Apple CarPlay coming to rival Tesla

[SASSquatch]

This is because Telsas are all old and undesirable now. Couple that with Elon being a lunatic and you have sales dropping like a stone. Yet another idiotic decision from Elmo and company, they spent the last 10 years talking about how great their software is, only to capitulate to CarPlay.

It's not their software that's responsible for their lagging sales; it's everything else about their cars. Their cheap-looking interiors without a driver screen, their dumb decisions for yokes and turn signal buttons, lack of an overhead camera, and stagnated designs are the major reason for their sales decline. Other companies that make more compelling vehicles have entered the EV space and pretty much all of them make better vehicles. Tesla's only strength was their software, so CarPlay isn't going to help.

I don't disagree with anything you said. Adding CP/AA for Tesla is likely extremely low lift. Redesigning their entire vehicles to not be all of the things you described is untenable. This decision from them was borne out of desperation and it is seen as low hanging fruit.

Either way, nearly all EV competitors offer AA/CP. It will be very difficult for Rivian to sit on the sidelines here. My better half drives a 10 year old Ford C-Max Hybrid that has AA/CP (and btw a working CD player). People want AA/CP plain and simple and Rivian is running out of excuses at this point.

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[Donald Stanfield]

I don't disagree with anything you said. Adding CP/AA for Tesla is likely extremely low lift. Redesigning their entire vehicles to not be all of the things you described is untenable. This decision from them was borne out of desperation and it is seen as low hanging fruit.

Either way, nearly all EV competitors offer AA/CP. It will be very difficult for Rivian to sit on the sidelines here. My better half drives a 10 year old Ford C-Max Hybrid that has AA/CP (and btw a working CD player). People want AA/CP plain and simple and Rivian is running out of excuses at this point.

You're right that it's probably not feasible now to redesign their entire lineup, but that wouldn't be true if Elon didn't bet big on the CT, the Semi, and all his AI stuff. If instead that money was used wisely to modernize the fleet and better appeal to the mass market, his company would be in a better position to remain an industry leader.

I agree with the second paragraph. Although I won't use CP, it will be tough for Rivian to stand alone by refusing to incorporate CP.

 

[strykerwsu]

What the hell is CarPlay and who has Apple phones?

In all seriousness, Tesla and Rivian are both fine without such systems. I enjoy both interfaces way more than any of my Android Auto vehicles. Rivian just needs talk to text which already has been shown to be coming soon with the recent Google integrations.

The quick screen swipes of both are way better than anything from screen mirroring in my opinion. Doesn’t make sense unless Elon plans to move all developers to his robot armies.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

What the hell is CarPlay and who has Apple phones?

In all seriousness, Tesla and Rivian are both fine without such systems. I enjoy both interfaces way more than any of my Android Auto vehicles. Rivian just needs talk to text which already has been shown to be coming soon with the recent Google integrations.

The quick screen swipes of both are way better than anything from screen mirroring in my opinion. Doesn’t make sense unless Elon plans to move all developers to his robot armies.

If I had to wager a guess of the percentage of Rivian owners who have an iPhone, I'd put it greater than 50%.

 

[portdirect]

If I had to wager a guess of the percentage of Rivian owners who have an iPhone, I'd put it greater than 50%.

It’s likely ~80-85% in the USA (don’t have the data for Canada): based off household income estimates for 80k-120k EV purchases/leases, not accounting for regional bias.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It’s likely ~80-85% in the USA (don’t have the data for Canada): based off household income estimates for 80k-120k EV purchases/leases, not accounting for regional bias.

It wouldn't surprise me if you're correct.

 

[TexasBob]

If I had to wager a guess of the percentage of Rivian owners who have an iPhone, I'd put it greater than 50%.

If I had to wager a guess at the percentage of iPhone owners who think Siri blows harder than a Houston hurricane I'd put it at greater than 95%. (Including me!)

RIvian needs to stay focused on getting Gemini fully integrated into the vehicle and fixing the ADAS.

Coincidentally, Apple needs to focus on getting Gemini fully into Siri and fixing the Liquid Ass UI.

 

[SASSquatch]

You're right that it's probably not feasible now to redesign their entire lineup, but that wouldn't be true if Elon didn't bet big on the CT, the Semi, and all his AI stuff. If instead that money was used wisely to modernize the fleet and better appeal to the mass market, his company would be in a better position to remain an industry leader.

I agree with the second paragraph. Although I won't use CP, it will be tough for Rivian to stand alone by refusing to incorporate CP.

Elon is slowly distancing himself from Tesla because he sees the writing on the wall. He secured his massive pay day because he wants to lean in on other things like AI and SpaceX where he sees the next big money makers.

The best thing Tesla had going for it was its charging network. The moment they opened that up, they tied a noose around their necks. I personally am fine with that.

 

[savethemanual]

This smells of desperation from Tesla.

Their sales have tanked, other than the surge of folks who took advantage of the outgoing EV tax credit. Their designs are old/stale, even with their recent refresh. CT is a dumpster fire. And all that hyperbole about Optimus from Elon aint going to right the ship near term.

If this rumor is true, it looks like they are trying to get the holdouts who've resisted Tesla due to CP/AA because they know the R2 will be a hit and take even more sales from their #1 seller, the MY.

100 percent, Tesla is getting desperate. Their man child leader has done serious damage to sales on top of the fact that the competition is now incredibly strong. I'm doubtful Rivian will follow suit...at least not in the near term but hey who ever thought Tesla would do such a thing.

 

[SASSquatch]

If I had to wager a guess at the percentage of iPhone owners who think Siri blows harder than a Houston hurricane I'd put it at greater than 95%. (Including me!)

RIvian needs to stay focused on getting Gemini fully integrated into the vehicle and fixing the ADAS.

Coincidentally, Apple needs to focus on getting Gemini fully into Siri and fixing the Liquid Ass UI.

Siri is flat out terrible. I was an early iphone adopter but crashed out after the iPhone 3 because Android starting making better phones with...larger screens that Apple fought against forever.

I remember walking into an Apple store with my Motorola Droid that had a 4.5 inch screen when the iPhone was still stuck at 3.5 inches (can you imagine these days) and the Apple Dude started spouting nonsense that people don't need or want bigger screens. Yeah right.

Frankly, I hate CarPlay and Apple maps are a joke. AA is superior in my book and Gemini is worlds better than Siri - which is why Apple is leaning on them instead of trying to catch up.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of Apple stock and every other product I use (laptops, ipads, desktops, watches, etc) are Apple products. I just can't do iPhones, Siri, or CarPlay.

 

[lefkonj]

Tesla is trying to make sales, that would be the only reason to do this. They have already sunk the money in making the infortainment system what it is. Seems like something that people are rumored to do but not publicly admitting.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Elon is slowly distancing himself from Tesla because he sees the writing on the wall. He secured his massive pay day because he wants to lean in on other things like AI and SpaceX where he sees the next big money makers.

The best thing Tesla had going for it was its charging network. The moment they opened that up, they tied a noose around their necks. I personally am fine with that.

Opening the charging network is not the most significant mistake Tesla has made. Their cars no longer stack up to what else is out there. People made concessions on looks when battery technology wasn't as advanced as it is today. The Tesla models outside of the CT appear utilitarian, and they originate from a time when every mile mattered, as they needed to achieve sufficient range to be a viable transportation option for people.

Tesla updated their batteries and updated the performance, but they never updated the look. For example, my wife's i4M50 appears to be a gas-powered one. It is an attractive-looking car. That's just one example. The Ioniq 5N is an excellent-looking car, as are the Genesis EV models. Most products available at Tesla's price point are more stylish, offering similar performance.

Instead of moderate styling changes on their lineup, they made the CT as a foil to the rest of the line, as if one somehow offset the other. Tesla decided that the move was a minor update on the rest of their cars, when they needed a bigger appearance than what they had, and the CT needed much less of it. Had Tesla made something closer to the R1T, and made the rest of their lineup more in line with the style quality level of everyone else, they would be in a much better position today, even with opening up the Tesla network.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

If I had to wager a guess at the percentage of iPhone owners who think Siri blows harder than a Houston hurricane I'd put it at greater than 95%. (Including me!)

RIvian needs to stay focused on getting Gemini fully integrated into the vehicle and fixing the ADAS.

Coincidentally, Apple needs to focus on getting Gemini fully into Siri and fixing the Liquid Ass UI.

I like the liquid UI, but their AI assistance sucks. We can agree there.

 

[Antonio]

It’s unlikely I’ll use CP. I had it in previous cars and hardly ever used it, but we have to admit, when you purchase a $100,000 car, you really should expect to have the option to use CP if that is what you wish, when much cheaper cars have it available. Allowing CP should not change the efforts from Rivian to create the best software in the industry.

 

[ndmiller]

I don't think you meant to say it this way. Regardless, it is a fact that there is a non-zero number of people who are not buying Teslas or Rivians because they don't have CP/AA. You can argue that it's an insignificantly low number (I would disagree) but you absolutely cannot argue with a straight face that it's zero.

More consumer choice should always be the default. Hilarious to me when people are arguing that no one should want CP/AA and in the next breath complain that they don't have a certain streaming service yet.

The same number of people aren't buying Teslas and Rivians specifically because the don't have car play as the number of people not buying Mazda Miatas because they don't come with Recaro seats standard. Happy now.

Same amount of people who want an EV Pickup won't buy it and instead buy a Y because it has CarPlay. Such a dumb discussion, who cares this it's internet stupidity and you know it.

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