It’s the Operating System, Stupid
Jordan Golson - Writer | Ryan Lugo - Illustartions | Sept 26, 2022
What’s Apple’s Play With CarPlay?
The tech giant continues to tease its future in automotive while Google presses forward as well.
For close to a century, the information displayed on a car's dashboard remained virtually unchanged. Analog gauges displayed stats such as speed, voltage, or engine temperature—useful data to be sure, but not exactly thrilling to gaze upon and, of course, nothing was interactive.
Then, as digital screens and the first modern infotainment systems arrived, a new and entirely different issue arose: "There's a race to demonstrate who can be first, who has the better technology, and everybody forgets about the customer," legendary automotive executive Bob Lutz told me in a 2014 interview, just as the age of the digital cockpit began to accelerate.
The customer didn’t forget, however, about the frustrating interfaces and other missteps automakers made along the way, in their headlong rush to show how advanced their technologies were. Adding to the issues, those same automakers would often have to wait years until they could roll out updates to buggy or otherwise unintuitive systems.
Meanwhile, Apple and Google especially have spent tens of billions constantly updating their user interfaces and operating systems over the past decade-plus—carmakers simply can't compete. Smartphone design has become too good, and in a world where everyone has an iPhone or similar in their pocket, complicated, unwieldy, and downright annoying user interfaces in automobiles are no longer acceptable.
That's why Apple CarPlay, along with its Google-based counterpart, Android Auto, have become so popular. Today’s smartphones offer an optimized user experience so familiar that it’s become an integral part of daily life. To wit: In a recent presentation, Apple stated that some 79 percent of new car buyers wouldn't even consider a vehicle without CarPlay capability.
As millions of drivers have discovered, CarPlay and Android Auto essentially turn the car’s infotainment screen quite literally into an extension of the phone, akin to plugging an external monitor into your laptop. Your phone sees it as a second screen and displays a specialized user interface designed for use in automobiles.
Google Goes Next-Level
With Android
Now that CarPlay and Android Auto have become commonplace, the tech giants are moving to the next level. Android Automotive OS—which is different from Android Auto—is being adopted by several carmakers, including Volvo. In effect, Android Automotive is running nearly the same software as an Android-based smartphone, but in the car.
With it, carmakers can design the top-level user interface (and thus customize the system to their cars and customers) without spending hundreds of millions building development layers with zero competitive differentiation.
The car buyer of the future is going to want apps—just like they get from their smartphone— and Android Automotive lets them have that. Earlier this year, Volvo became the first carmaker to build YouTube into its infotainment screen. Because it’s using Android Automotive, the app didn't require much work; it's a tweaked version of the standard YouTube app for Android, with some behavioral changes and optimization for an automotive application. By adopting Android for the car, developers like Spotify or Netflix are now more likely to create apps that will work in Volvo's cars.
"We're happier that it's not something done uniquely for us," said David Holecek, Volvo Cars' director of digital experiences, in an interview earlier this year. "It's truly why we have this partnership with Google: to tap into an open ecosystem rather than having something bespoke just for us."
At the moment, video doesn't play if the car is moving, but it's still useful for listening to, say, YouTube vodcasts or other audio-centric content while driving, or for watching when sitting at an EV charger. In the future, Volvo envisions making recommendations for shows to watch based on how long a vehicle can drive fully autonomously during a commute. You might even opt for a slightly longer commute if you don't have to drive manually for as much of it.
CarPlaying on a Whole
New Level
Apple isn't sitting back and letting Google (or, increasingly, Amazon, with the integration of its Alexa technology) take over the car, though. At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple previewed what it called the next generation of CarPlay, which would in essence take over the instrument cluster and infotainment screens completely.
The present CarPlay (and Android Auto) implementation is simple—the car is simply handing over a non-critical system to the iPhone. It’s also phone-dependent, with battery life and loss of Bluetooth or internet connection ever-present issues (as anyone who has used CarPlay to any extent can attest).
But the version Apple showcased at WWDC is an entirely different animal, integrating critical vehicle functions such as the PRNDL shift indicator, turn signals, warning lights, and more. Apple designers demoed screens showing speedometer and tachometer displays, and even climate controls. It was a vision of what it would look like if Apple took over every screen and primary user function in the car.
Indeed, Apple said at the time that an implementation like the one it showcased will be “deeply integrated with the car’s hardware” and that “vehicles will start to be announced late next year,” so it’s clear the company is already working with an automaker or automakers to develop the system. It could potentially start with a smaller outfit like Ferrari (senior Apple exec Eddy Cue on its board), which coincidentally just announced that it will be using CarPlay and Android Auto exclusively as the navigation system for its coming Purosangue SUV.
CarPlay, or Car Entirely?
The next-generation CarPlay could also easily be considered a shot across the bow to the automotive world that an Apple Car is in the offing. The looming possibility of an Apple Car is a subject MotorTrend explored extensively in its recent Apple Car 2.0 exposé. The company has reportedly been working on a car since 2014, when its “Project Titan” was first rumored to be underway. Since that time, Apple’s been linked to numerous companies that build EV platforms and could possibly provide it with manufacturing expertise, including Hyundai, LG Magna, and Foxconn, the primary maker of the iPhone. Apple has also reportedly been consistent that its car be fully autonomous, meaning no pedals or steering wheel, which could be delaying its entry into the market.
One thing is certain, however, and that’s the undeniable and enormous appeal of the Apple brand, as evidenced by Strategic Vision’s New Vehicle Experience Study, which asks new vehicle owners how they feel in various ways about the world’s leading automotive brands. Apple was included for the first time in its 2022 survey of some 200,000 vehicle owners, despite not having announced a vehicle for sale. It immediately had the greatest combined score when looking at two of the survey’s key measurements: Future Consideration ("Definitely Consider," 26 percent) and Your Impression of Quality ("I love it," 24%).
Whatever it ends up doing, be it as a carmarker or simply as a software provider, Apple will almost assuredly do it using the strategies that have worked for the tech colossus to date. Expect complete integration with your iPhone at the very least, and the ease-of-use that has made its operating system so compelling.
In a quote that could have been ascribed to Steve Jobs, back in 2014 Lutz presciently summed-up why some companies such as Apple have been so successful at connecting humans to computer interfaces where others, including mainstream automakers, have so far largely faltered: "They say ‘it won't hurt to put in the rest of the stuff.’ Well, yes, it does hurt. It needlessly complicates your life."
Anuradha Varanasi - Writer
Ryan Lugo - illustrations
Getty Images - Photographer | Sept 12, 2022
How EVs Could Fix the Electrical Grid
Local governments and policymakers are anxious about the U.S. grid’s ability to withstand ever-increasing demand. Consumers could hold the key to an untapped resource.
Transportation is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for about a third of all emissions. We could quickly lower those emissions by electrifying vehicles, but there’s just one hitch: we don’t currently generate enough power.
“If all transportation goes electric, we are effectively doubling demand,” said Matthias Preindl, an EV expert and professor of electrical engineering at Columbia Engineering. “And the grid isn’t built to withstand that.”
Despite some investment and expansion since the 1950s, the U.S. grid has a mostly aging fleet of generators, and maxed out transmission loads due to congested lines. Making matters worse, extreme weather events like heatwaves and wildfires have repeatedly melted power cables.
The U.S. would have to invest as much as $125 billion by 2030 just to keep up with the growing demands for power that EVs will require to operate, according to a 2020 study. But what if the EVs themselves could be part of the solution, adding power to the grid?
According to a recent International Energy Agency study, by 2030 some 145 million electrified cars, buses, trucks, and vans (a mix of plug-in hybrids and full battery electric) will be on the road. Sort of. On average, drivers park their vehicles 95 percent of the time. With close to $5 billion in federal money recently allocated to build a nationwide network of EV charging stations along interstate highways, all those idle EVs could be put to work via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology—an idea experts say could transform the already overwhelmed electrical grid.
V2G technology involves using bidirectional chargers to carry unused power from an EV’s batteries into the smart grid. As an EV gets charged, the grid’s AC (alternating current) electricity is converted to the batteries’ DC (direct current)—which is then used to run the vehicle. A bi-directional charger can convert DC to AC and transfer it to the grid from the EV’s lithium-ion cells. It can also simultaneously control how much power enters or leaves the battery.
Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Technology to the Rescue?
What’s Apple’s Play With CarPlay?
Jordan Golson - Writer | Ryan Lugo - Illustartions | Sept 26, 2022
According to a recent International Energy Agency study, by 2030 some 145 million electrified cars, buses, trucks, and vans (a mix of plug-in hybrids and full battery electric) will be on the road. Sort of. On average, drivers park their vehicles 95 percent of the time. With close to $5 billion in federal money recently allocated to build a nationwide network of EV charging stations along interstate highways, all those idle EVs could be put to work via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology—an idea experts say could transform the already overwhelmed electrical grid.
V2G technology involves using bidirectional chargers to carry unused power from an EV’s batteries into the smart grid. As an EV gets charged, the grid’s AC (alternating current) electricity is converted to the batteries’ DC (direct current)—which is then used to run the vehicle. A bi-directional charger can convert DC to AC and transfer it to the grid from the EV’s lithium-ion cells. It can also simultaneously control how much power enters or leaves the battery.
Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Technology to the Rescue?
Now that CarPlay and Android Auto have become commonplace, the tech giants are moving to the next level. Android Automotive OS—which is different from Android Auto—is being adopted by several carmakers, including Volvo. In effect, Android Automotive is running nearly the same software as an Android-based smartphone, but in the car.
With it, carmakers can design the top-level user interface (and thus customize the system to their cars and customers) without spending hundreds of millions building development layers with zero competitive differentiation.
The car buyer of the future is going to want apps—just like they get from their smartphone— and Android Automotive lets them have that. Earlier this year, Volvo became the first carmaker to build YouTube into its infotainment screen. Because it’s using Android Automotive, the app didn't require much work; it's a tweaked version of the standard YouTube app for Android, with some behavioral changes and optimization for an automotive application. By adopting Android for the car, developers like Spotify or Netflix are now more likely to create apps that will work in Volvo's cars.
"We're happier that it's not something done uniquely for us," said David Holecek, Volvo Cars' director of digital experiences, in an interview earlier this year. "It's truly why we have this partnership with Google: to tap into an open ecosystem rather than having something bespoke just for us."
At the moment, video doesn't play if the car is moving, but it's still useful for listening to, say, YouTube vodcasts or other audio-centric content while driving, or for watching when sitting at an EV charger. In the future, Volvo envisions making recommendations for shows to watch based on how long a vehicle can drive fully autonomously during a commute. You might even opt for a slightly longer commute if you don't have to drive manually for as much of it.
Google Goes Next-Level
With Android
Apple isn't sitting back and letting Google (or, increasingly, Amazon, with the integration of its Alexa technology) take over the car, though. At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple previewed what it called the next generation of CarPlay, which would in essence take over the instrument cluster and infotainment screens completely.
The present CarPlay (and Android Auto) implementation is simple—the car is simply handing over a non-critical system to the iPhone. It’s also phone-dependent, with battery life and loss of Bluetooth or internet connection ever-present issues (as anyone who has used CarPlay to any extent can attest).
But the version Apple showcased at WWDC is an entirely different animal, integrating critical vehicle functions such as the PRNDL shift indicator, turn signals, warning lights, and more. Apple designers demoed screens showing speedometer and tachometer displays, and even climate controls. It was a vision of what it would look like if Apple took over every screen and primary user function in the car.
Indeed, Apple said at the time that an implementation like the one it showcased will be “deeply integrated with the car’s hardware” and that “vehicles will start to be announced late next year,” so it’s clear the company is already working with an automaker or automakers to develop the system. It could potentially start with a smaller outfit like Ferrari (senior Apple exec Eddy Cue on its board), which coincidentally just announced that it will be using CarPlay and Android Auto exclusively as the navigation system for its coming Purosangue SUV.
CarPlaying on a Whole
New Level