Common Myths About CarPlay

[Whale Blubber]

-In the eyes of Discover, and Visa cards I'm a "deadbeat" customer because I always pay in full before the due date and I haven't paid interest charges in over 20+ years.
-I only have internet through my cable company, I get TV through a roof antenna/TiVo and internet, and I have an Ooma box (original model before they had a subscription fee) for home phone service.
-Electricity is fully provided by 43 solar panels on the roof, monthly electric bill is $15 since 2019.
-No mortgage, no car loans, no other debt.

So yeah, I'm a bad consumer.. and loving it

That's actually incredible. I pay a ridiculous amount every month for home (plus car) electricity, phone, internet, and multiple streaming services (including Rivian's). Probably between $1500-2000/mo, but I don't like to keep track because the figure is too distressing.

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[NY_Rob]

That's actually incredible. I pay a ridiculous amount every month for home (plus car) electricity, phone, internet, and multiple streaming services (including Rivian's). Probably between $1500-2000/mo, but I don't like to keep track because the figure is too distressing.

You can make a sizable reduction in your monthly outlay, you just have to make a list and attack it one item at a time. Solar was probably the best investment I made. My system went online Jan 2019 and since then it's produced 122.14MWh which is worth $31,750 at our utility rates. The system cost me $26K after fed and local rebates so I broke even after 6 yrs (end of 2025) on costs.

 

[JM.]

You can make a sizable reduction in your monthly outlay, you just have to make a list and attack it one item at a time. Solar was probably the best investment I made. My system went online Jan 2019 and since then it's produced 122.14MWh which is worth $31,750 at our utility rates. The system cost me $26K after fed and local rebates so I broke even after 6 yrs (end of 2025) on costs.

Is there a CarPlay app to monitor it while driving?

 

[tps5352]

...most common myths [about] CarPlay...

Very helpful and interesting post.

From 2017 to 2021 I drove a Honda Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car (my first modern, electric -motor, high-tech vehicle). It had a (somewhat clunky) Garmin GPS-navigation system and the option of using CarPlay, I believe. I don't recall all the details, but I think that I sometimes tried CarPlay for display on the car's screen of the Apple Maps function from my iPhone (which was of course connected by a USB cable to the car) and for entertainment functions. However, most of the time I did not. I can't remember why I did not use it most of the time. There was something that was inconvenient or troublesome; not sure what it was?

Later, I thought that I might want CarPlay in my Tesla or a Rivian--but have been fine without it.

Then in 2022 I was assisting a friend who eventually bought a new Toyota RAV4 hybrid that (due to the worldwide chip-shortage, remember that?) came without built-in GPS/map hardware/software. We considered adding an aftermarket infotainment system that would include CarPlay. But she eventually found that all she really needed was her iPhone in the car to navigate adequately.

My point? If I ever purchased a car with CarPlay, no problem. I'd probably use it sometimes. But I am also fine without it. So it is in no way a deal-breaker for me. Others may feel differently.

 

[tbinmd]

CarPlay is just another app. With the phone integration it's powerful. Took the fun car out yesterday, it has CarPlay. Only jumped into CarPlay sat the start of my drive, started Waze. Went back to the media center to play music off an SD card. But the whole time Waze is running on my phone and providing alerts of speed camera's and radar traps/police activity by ducking the music and announcing the threat. I miss that in my R1T. If Rivian doesn't want to provide CarPlay then at least provide an App Store to allow other apps to be loaded. The anti CarPlay thinking is archaic in this age. Maybe they plan to bring out a mobile phone that will be totally integrated with the vehicle.

 

[djplong]

Here's the reason for CarPlay (and it's probably similar for Android).

There are over 80 apps that run on CarPlay (I read 84 the other day). They all have their purposes and Apple is a lot tougher on approving apps for CarPlay than the other platforms.

All these apps have developers that are dedicated to improving their apps, fixing bugs, etc.

When Audible or Apple Music or Podcasts or Waze introduce a new feature - how long will it take for Rivian to catch up? How many bugs are there in a native Rivian app? How does it perform? (Tesla's Apple Music app is PASSABLE, YouTube is a stuttering pile of junk and SiriusXM is a money grab requiring another subscription even if you have one).. This could be partially taken care of if Rivian did something that Tesla said they'd do and never did - create a Rivian App Store.

In addition, Rivian's hardware is (correct me if I'm wrong) pretty "locked in place". An owner can upgrade their phone any time they want - and, as far as the Rivian is concerned, it's still just running a window reflecting the results of the actual computing on the phone.

How can Rivian POSSIBLY keep up? Note: I'm willing to be proven wrong. CarPlay is the one feature that would be the final nail in the coffin of considering anything else.

 

[JM.]

(Tesla's Apple Music app is PASSABLE,

Barely, and it took a long time to stop being a buggy mess. You very well summed up "why CarPlay."

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