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Interview with Rivian/Volkswagen Software Chief

This right here goes to show that if you give people what they want then the noise of "We want CarPlay" dies down

"If I look at our own internal statistics from five years ago when we first shipped the R1T and the R1S, the number one request from customers was CarPlay. We did all sorts of surveys with customers at the time, and more than 70 percent of customers were requesting CarPlay. In the recent survey, that number is less than 25 percent because with the level of features that we have shipped to customers, level of end-to-end integration, and the level of convenience that we are bringing, CarPlay or Android Auto is no longer the topic of discussion."

With the way SDV's are heading the writing is on the wall for CarPlay and Android Auto. BMW said it's not as popular as people make it out to be and their focus is on the vehicles software and now Rivian has confirmed it also, only 25% of customers are requesting CarPlay now. If Lucid had of got the software right from day 1 on both Air and Gravity I think the CarPlay \ Android Auto noise would have died down long ago. It seems to be used as an escape from Lucid's buggy software and the challenge for Lucid now will be to convince those owners to ditch CP\AA and go back to the cars native system. The kids were kicking and screaming for the bag of candy, they gave it, now good luck taking it away from them (which I don't think they will do).
 
Yeah, I think that’s a mistake. We went this past weekend to check out the R2 event near us and test drive an R1S (first time for us) and my wife really liked the R1S and would consider swapping out but without CarPlay, she won’t do it.
 
9point81 said:
Yeah, I think that’s a mistake. We went this past weekend to check out the R2 event near us and test drive an R1S (first time for us) and my wife really liked the R1S and would consider swapping out but without CarPlay, she won’t do it.
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Hate to say it but Rivian probably doesn’t care that one person won’t buy the car over CarPlay, especially when their own data shows demand for it has dropped from 70% to under 25% as the software matured. It also seems pretty shortsighted to write off an entire vehicle without actually living with the system first. A lot of people assume “no CarPlay” automatically means a worse experience, but Rivian’s whole approach is built around deeper integration than CarPlay can offer.
 
I have always considered AA/Carplay to be band aids for mediocre infotainment systems. Only in those cases could I understand someone thinking it is a must have feature.

Put me in the native is best group. Outside of calls, I don't want my phone tethered (wired or wirelessly) to my vehicle as long as I have a good navigation (including charging/route planning) and music streaming options.
 
I absolutely, positively am not remotely interested in Lucid or Rivian's or anyone's native solution. Every "app" a car has beyond navigation and Carplay is a detriment to me.
Really, I'd prefer my car didn't connect to the Internet except at my specific request. I understand others feel differently
Most of all, I think it is complete and utter madness to be pursuing this stuff until you get the basic functions of the car working right- hard to find a better example than Lucid.
 
Personally I prefer Android Auto / Carplay integration because I'd like to be able to run my Rods app natively on the display instead of my phone.

I'm also not a fan of logging into my email account in a vehicle if I don't have to.

And I hate using voice commands.
 
HC_79 said:
Hate to say it but Rivian probably doesn’t care that one person won’t buy the car over CarPlay, especially when their own data shows demand for it has dropped from 70% to under 25% as the software matured. It also seems pretty shortsighted to write off an entire vehicle without actually living with the system first. A lot of people assume “no CarPlay” automatically means a worse experience, but Rivian’s whole approach is built around deeper integration than CarPlay can offer.
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I can only give an example directly of one person and one lost sale. If comments on other platforms are to be believed, a great number of people feel the same about no CarPlay is a deal killer. For me, I considered Escalade and VistiQ before Gravity and I eliminated GM as well due to CarPlay not being an option. It may be nothing to some, but to others it means a lot. I can open my gates to my neighborhood with a widget vs getting my phone out while driving, which is illegal in my state. I do that and much more every day on CarPlay and there is absolutely no way any car interface is able to replace all of the functions I use. It’s totally fine if it’s not for you, but for us, we won’t buy. I can’t understand why an automaker won’t even give us a choice. Well I understand some of the data mining but still…

also, I’m not trying to be a jerk, as you’ve done some really awesome stuff in this community, but it’s not for you to decide how I spend my money or what is “shortsighted” of me and my family purchases. As Mr Bobby Brown said in his song , I made this money, you didn’t. I can respect your choice how to spend your money how you want. I ask that you please do the same even if you don’t agree with it. Thanks.
 
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For me, one of the great things about CarPlay is that I already know how to use it. Automobile UI's can take a ton of time to learn, especially if they aren't designed particularly well (and many aren't). I drove mostly Audi's for 15-20 years, initially because I liked the way they handled--not too soft, not too taut. But I realized years ago that one of the reasons I kept buying Audis is because I already knew how to use them. The UI with CarPlay layered on top was extremely familiar to me and easy to use.

I have had my AGT for almost a year and there are still parts of it I am getting used to. I think there are a lot of people who aren't interested in climbing a long, steep learning curve in order to operate their car. The nice thing about CarPlay is that it is a familiar interface that you can take with you from car to car.
 
That’s a good pivot, but I’m asking, are we going to get the fan speed button back in the center stack?
Not in the center stack, but we have the same thing on the Haptic Halo Wheels. It’s a great compromise.
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This right here. This kind of answer drives me absolutely bonkers. Why compromise? Why not just build the thing people want? You're going to hit the BoM with a 200 TOPs processor so people can check their Google calendar while they should be driving but you won't add 25 cents for a button?

I love how Wassym goes out of his way to make the point that their LLM feature isn't just a chatbot slapped on top of the UI, and then Nilay basically shows Rivian Assistant is exactly that - trying to query the LLM about sensors and vehicle features and getting the standard "404 not found" response. Also Nilay asking for clarification on his definition of "agentic" which apparently just means hitting Google's servers via MCP instead of an API.

1780076009329.webp
 
The only reason I'm not using Android Auto much in my Air is because Lucid decided to use 2 screens, the upper one of which is tiny and non-rectangular - thus forcing them to use only part of the screen. If there was a single, decent-sized screen, I'd be using AA every time, but as it is, I'm now faced with a choice between:

1. Full use of multiple screens, with good looking graphics, but no native apps for my preferred music service(s) (YouTube Music, Pandora, PlexAmp), and wildly inaccurate routing by HERE Navigation (the most random wrong turns it suggests, or today claiming an EA location had 7 chargers including 350kW - but it really only had 4 x 150kW stations, only two Favorites can be stored, etc), and SMS messaging that won't even let me dictate a reply, vs
2. AA with all the features and functionality I need, Waze/Google Maps (with all my history of favorites/locations - hazard notifications, etc), all my music apps, plus other apps that are nice to have (a weather radar app, a radio scanner app, etc), and I can dictate reponses to texts in multiple apps - but all limited to PART of an already not-terribly-large screen.


Not exactly a great choice to have to make. All things being equal, I'd take Android Auto/Carplay every time - unfortunately, the deck is stacked against it in Lucid vehicles.
 
Oh I'm also going to rail against a "Voice control everything in your car" future. The last thing I want when I'm driving with a sleeping kiddo in the back seat, and want to change the temperature for example, is to have to start talking out loud to my car and having it (eventually) respond - thus waking up the kiddo, when it would take me a split second to reach out and tap the temp up/down button once or twice.
 
doubletwist said:
Oh I'm also going to rail against a "Voice control everything in your car" future.
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Second this. I also was not a fan of Tesla just installing Grok in my other vehicle without an ability to opt out (unless I just never installed OTA's).
 
My wife is at least one more person who refuses to look at Rivian or Tesla because of the lack of CarPlay. She uses it on every drive, is 100% comfortable with it, it works the same in every single car that has it, and she is not interested in learning a new system at all, no matter how good it is, because CarPlay works exactly the way she likes. Plus, she’s addicted to her iPhone anyway and this is just another way to mainline her Apple fix.
 
azguy said:
Ever since I updated to 2.9.0 I've had a similar issue with locking. Yesterday car unlocked as I walked up to passenger door, and I put groceries on the passenger seat. Quickly walked to driver side and the stupid car locked up. I had to press the door handle to get in, but this is a new, and extremely unwelcome behavior. All this was with my iPhone, which worked fine in this identical situation before this latest update.

As has been said, locking and unlocking the car is not rocket science. Lucid needs to consider this issue, on the Airs and the Gravity, as a three alarm fire, not a casual issue to fix when they get around to it. At some point NHTSA will get involved and force a recall garnering more bad publicity.

Love the car, but these issues are turning owners off, and happy owners drive sales much more than expensive endorsements from washed up actors. Unhappy owners kill sales. Just this week at least 5 people have asked about this car with an eye toward buying one. How do I, in good conscience, suggest someone buy a Lucid when the car keeps locking me out or refuses to open as I approach?
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Leftlane said:
My wife is at least one more person who refuses to look at Rivian or Tesla because of the lack of CarPlay. She uses it on every drive, is 100% comfortable with it, it works the same in every single car that has it, and she is not interested in learning a new system at all, no matter how good it is, because CarPlay works exactly the way she likes. Plus, she’s addicted to her iPhone anyway and this is just another way to mainline her Apple fix.
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Happy wife = Happy life
 
doubletwist said:
The only reason I'm not using Android Auto much in my Air is because Lucid decided to use 2 screens, the upper one of which is tiny and non-rectangular - thus forcing them to use only part of the screen. If there was a single, decent-sized screen, I'd be using AA every time...
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Android Auto will fill the entire (non-rectangular) right side of the upper screen soon:
blog.google

Do more and have more fun with the next generation of Android in the car

Android Auto and cars with Google built-in are getting upgrades. Drivers can look forward to a rich new experience, premium entertainment and a more capable Gemini.
blog.google blog.google
 
DeaneG said:
Android Auto will fill the entire (non-rectangular) right side of the upper screen soon:
blog.google

Do more and have more fun with the next generation of Android in the car

Android Auto and cars with Google built-in are getting upgrades. Drivers can look forward to a rich new experience, premium entertainment and a more capable Gemini.
blog.google blog.google
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That will be a little better but still not a great screen size for the entirety of an interface, and still largely wasting the screen real estate on the bottom screen.

Yes, I know that's a limitation set by Google and Apple, but Lucid was (or should have been) well aware of that limitation when they chose their screen layout.

Eventually one day, I hope somebody gets the holy trifecta of driving dynamics, driver UX/UI experience/capability/stability (that includes hardware buttons/interfaces), and service experience right. That day, that manufacturer gets me as a customer for life. 😎
 
doubletwist said:
Yes, I know that's a limitation set by Google and Apple, but Lucid was (or should have been) well aware of that limitation when they chose their screen layout.
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Or Google and Apple should be aware of auto manufacturers’ needs and be more flexible. The native Lucid UX is great in making use of the entire curved screen.
 
HC_79 said:
This right here goes to show that if you give people what they want then the noise of "We want CarPlay" dies down

"If I look at our own internal statistics from five years ago when we first shipped the R1T and the R1S, the number one request from customers was CarPlay. We did all sorts of surveys with customers at the time, and more than 70 percent of customers were requesting CarPlay. In the recent survey, that number is less than 25 percent because with the level of features that we have shipped to customers, level of end-to-end integration, and the level of convenience that we are bringing, CarPlay or Android Auto is no longer the topic of discussion."

With the way SDV's are heading the writing is on the wall for CarPlay and Android Auto. BMW said it's not as popular as people make it out to be and their focus is on the vehicles software and now Rivian has confirmed it also, only 25% of customers are requesting CarPlay now. If Lucid had of got the software right from day 1 on both Air and Gravity I think the CarPlay \ Android Auto noise would have died down long ago. It seems to be used as an escape from Lucid's buggy software and the challenge for Lucid now will be to convince those owners to ditch CP\AA and go back to the cars native system. The kids were kicking and screaming for the bag of candy, they gave it, now good luck taking it away from them (which I don't think they will do).
Click to expand...
I’m sorry, not buying that. Once people realize there is no chance of CarPlay, they stop asking. Rivian just wants to keep the monies from data/subscriptions instead of giving people what they want.

CarPlay much better experience. It’s what you are used to outside the car, why suddenly change it in the car. Bogus argument.

Good example is if I want to pick up my kid, I just use find me app and get directions. Can Rivian do that? NOPE! Much worse experience without CarPlay and no car company will be able to develop a system that is more intuitive and familiar for those with Apple phones.
 
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