New EV Play Update

[EV Play - Alex]

I see the email, but I am not seeing anywhere to sign up for the deposit.

Also, as someone else asked...

I'll be sending out the pre-information later this week. Most likely Friday.

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[EV Play - Alex]

It's a piece of hardware that will, by using a remote, switch between the Rivian screen and CarPlay on the main infotainment screen.

Essentially, yes, but it's so much more than just "CarPlay." It's a full-blown, Android-based mini-computer (that's a lot of hyphens) that will allow you to hold Zoom meetings, play Minecraft, watch Squid Game, surf the Web, and work on a spreadsheet. This is your new man (or woman) cave, mobile office, movie theater, and arcade. And that's just version 1 - I have a lot of amazing features planned for future releases.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

Finally got an email. Very excited about where this is headed. I am absolutely in for one. Definitely will show it to a bunch of people I know in Dallas.

I would definitely be interested in what data you can pull to show power/load, maybe an instantaneous efficiency meter, texting, etc. I have a big wish list.

Awesome. If you haven't already, let me know about that wish list on our new forum, here.

 

[savethemanual]

Essentially, yes, but it's so much more than just "CarPlay." It's a full-blown, Android-based mini-computer (that's a lot of hyphens) that will allow you to hold Zoom meetings, play Minecraft, watch Squid Game, surf the Web, and work on a spreadsheet. This is your new man (or woman) cave, mobile office, movie theater, and arcade. And that's just version 1 - I have a lot of amazing features planned for future releases.

How about KISS (keep it simple silly) and just have AA/CP as the only option for those that don't want all the extra.

 

[ttphhi]

Product sounds interesting. I signed up for your forum but cannot start a new post or reply to existing strings.

 

[KBabione]

Is it really *HER* Rivian?!??

Oh - there is absolutely NO question that it's hers!!! Her brother had been a brand director at Rivian until the second big round of layoffs and she ordered it while he worked there. She does let me drive it, but if the two of us have to go someplace at the same time it will be me in an ICE vehicle...

 

[racekarl]

Essentially, yes, but it's so much more than just "CarPlay." It's a full-blown, Android-based mini-computer (that's a lot of hyphens) that will allow you to hold Zoom meetings, play Minecraft, watch Squid Game, surf the Web, and work on a spreadsheet. This is your new man (or woman) cave, mobile office, movie theater, and arcade. And that's just version 1 - I have a lot of amazing features planned for future releases.

I'll be honest, this approach concerns me a bit. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. As a prospective customer my sole interest in this is for an integrated CarPlay solution, and I would imagine I'm far from alone in that sentiment.

It's clear from the videos you've posted and some of the comments that there will be some important caveats and feature limitations to the way CarPlay works and how it's integrated with the existing infotainment system. I would feel much better about something like an ongoing subscription if I knew that those funds would be used toward removing those caveats and more closely integrating the CarPlay experience with the Rivian one instead of being used to chase shiny new things like AI.

 

[Gurule92]

Very cool product! I experimented with a similar (but def not as cool) setup in my teslas. Tesla android i believe it was called. Basically set up an android device as a webserver on the wifi the car was connected to and interacted with it through the browser. Worked okay, probably works better on HW4 cars, but EVplay is super exciting to me. (and i dont even care about android auto or carplay tbh lol)

I'm imagining using it for uber/lyft, better map apps, custom car dashboards and obv media controls.

Can't wait

 

[CBRacerX]

Continue to be interested!

 

[windblowlc]

I'll be honest, this approach concerns me a bit. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. As a prospective customer my sole interest in this is for an integrated CarPlay solution, and I would imagine I'm far from alone in that sentiment.

It's clear from the videos you've posted and some of the comments that there will be some important caveats and feature limitations to the way CarPlay works and how it's integrated with the existing infotainment system. I would feel much better about something like an ongoing subscription if I knew that those funds would be used toward removing those caveats and more closely integrating the CarPlay experience with the Rivian one instead of being used to chase shiny new things like AI.

Exactly! I don't care about all those things that's much more than just CarPlay. What you and I want is just simple integrated CarPlay. No Zoom meetings, or Minecraft, or squid Game, or surf the web while I'm in the Rivian. I can do all those things at home.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

How about KISS (keep it simple silly) and just have AA/CP as the only option for those that don't want all the extra.

Exactly! I don't care about all those things that's much more than just CarPlay. What you and I want is just simple integrated CarPlay. No Zoom meetings, or Minecraft, or squid Game, or surf the web while I'm in the Rivian. I can do all those things at home.

The beauty of the device is that it is a simple, or complex, as you want it to be. All those features I mentioned above are accomplished by apps. If you don't want them, then you certainly don't have to download them. Just get in the car, hit the EV Play button, wait for CarPlay to sync wireless with your phone, and off you go!

 

[hammick]

Exactly! I don't care about all those things that's much more than just CarPlay. What you and I want is just simple integrated CarPlay. No Zoom meetings, or Minecraft, or squid Game, or surf the web while I'm in the Rivian. I can do all those things at home.

I find CarPlay limited for what I need when taking long road trips in an EV. Super excited about having a complete unlocked solution that can do a lot more than CP or AA and with a lot of future potential. Most EV owners who hang around the forums are tech junkies and a product like EV Play is exactly what we want.

 

[windblowlc]

The beauty of the device is that it is a simple, or complex, as you want it to be. All those features I mentioned above are accomplished by apps. If you don't want them, then you certainly don't have to download them. Just get in the car, hit the EV Play button, wait for CarPlay to sync wireless with your phone, and off you go!

If I don't have to pay for the development cost for all those things, I'm all for it.

 

[windblowlc]

I find CarPlay limited for what I need when taking long road trips in an EV. Super excited about having a complete unlocked solution that can do a lot more than CP or AA and with a lot of future potential. Most EV owners who hang around the forums are tech junkies and a product like EV Play is exactly what we want.

I get it, but you might be surprised how many of us just want simple CarPlay so we can run simple apps like Waze on the main screen. Just look at how many different versions of phone mounts there are and you'll understand the needs.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

I'll be honest, this approach concerns me a bit. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. As a prospective customer my sole interest in this is for an integrated CarPlay solution, and I would imagine I'm far from alone in that sentiment.

It's clear from the videos you've posted and some of the comments that there will be some important caveats and feature limitations to the way CarPlay works and how it's integrated with the existing infotainment system. I would feel much better about something like an ongoing subscription if I knew that those funds would be used toward removing those caveats and more closely integrating the CarPlay experience with the Rivian one instead of being used to chase shiny new things like AI.

See the post above regarding the device being fully customizable in its use. If you just want CarPlay, it will just be CarPlay. I bet anything you will be using EV Play for more than that at some point, just as you use your phone for more than "just calling" and your Rivian for "just driving." But again, it is your device to customize and use as you see fit.

Regarding the "caveats" and "feature limitations" you mentioned, I'm going to heavily push back on that as it is clearly misinformation. CarPlay on EV Play is a very seamless experience. Far better than some native integrations I have seen over the years. Remember, EV Play is an after-market device for a vehicle made by a manufacturer that was pretty adamant about not having any 3rd party UIs like CarPlay and Android Auto in the first place. This was not an easy task. The current switching mechanism is not a limitation by any means. In fact, I can switch to CarPlay from any screen faster and more reliably than switching between screens in the Rivian UI.

Any new release has bugs and functionality that can be improved via updates...certainly our Rivians did and still do. Fixing and improving is exactly what the subscription pays for. The concern that EV Play will just be a device that can do a ton of things, all very poorly, is unwarranted.

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