Electric vehicle startup Rivian has finally confided that it has no plans to offer Apple CarPlay support to its models, potentially disappointing most customers. However, the company has some good reasons for its strong refusal.
Rivian CEO confirmed CarPlay integration is off the table
Rivian joins Tesla, General Motors, and several others in completely foregoing Apple CarPlay integration in future offerings.
Despite the complexity, Rivian develops its own electric vehicle software and infotainment system in-house. That said, Rivian refused to offer the highly demanded Apple CarPlay feature as an infotainment option.
While it has adopted popular apps like YouTube and Apple Music, Apple CarPlay has remained unavailable in Rivian EVs.
To finally clear things out, the Rivian Chief Executive finally denounced Apple CarPlay integration in a recent interview on The Verge’s Decoder podcast.
Rivian’s commitment to in-house UI software development
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe declared that the electric automaker aims to continuously develop its own software and infotainment system as it seeks to pave new paths in the market, even without the appeal of Apple CarPlay integration.
The Rivan boss emphasized the company’s commitment and confidence in its own in-cabin UI to offer a “pure” user experience.
“We have a great relationship with Apple. As much as I love their products, there’s a reason that ironically is very consistent with Apple ethos for us to want to control the ecosystem. (CarPlay) isn’t consistent with how we think about really creating a pure product experience.”
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe
CEO Scaringe also highlighted the multiple tap-throughs CarPlay would need from drivers and passengers to support both the Apple API and its own software. He further explained that the Apple CarPlay cannot support other aspects of the vehicle experience.
“We’ve taken the view of the digital experience in the vehicle wants to feel consistent and holistically harmonious across every touch point. In order to do that, the idea of having customers jump in or out of an application for which we don’t control and for which doesn’t have deep capabilities to leverage other parts of the vehicle experience. For example, if you’re in CarPlay and wanna open the front trunk, you have to leave the application and go to another interface.”
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe
These things considered, Rivian aims to uphold all UI software development internally to deliver a product that seamlessly supports all its proprietary electric vehicle technology.
“We recognize that it’ll take us time to fully capture every feature that’s in CarPlay, and hopefully, customers are seeing that. I think it often gets more noise than it deserves. The other thing beyond mapping that’s coming is better integration with texting. We know that needs to come, and it’s something that teams are actively working on.”
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe
Rivian’s unwavering dedication to having full control when it comes to its customer experience is indeed remarkable. Such innovations substantially contribute to its gradual success in the EV space. In fact, its upcoming R2 electric SUV has already received “well over” 100,000 pre-orders despite the apparent lack of Apple CarPlay integration.
