GM EVs Will Get Apple CarPlay After All—but Only Outside the US

The Drive

4 days ago

The latest car news, reviews, and features.
One point of frustration for us and many folks who have test-driven GM's latest EVs is that they lack Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, by design. GM has historically argued that the user experience for its EVs is better when drivers remain in its own software ecosystem, where features like navigation, range projections, and routing to chargers are all tied together, working off the same pool of information and vehicle data. The company also stands to make more money off owners forking over cash for monthly data subscriptions after their vehicle's free trial period ends, of course, though executives don't tend to lead with that point. In any case, it turns out that Cadillac EV buyers in Australia and New Zealand may get to keep phone projection going forward, even if we Americans are not so lucky.
The news comes to us by way of Australia's CarExpert , quoting a GM spokesperson for the region. 'All Cadillac Lyriq, Lyriq-V, Vistiq and Optiq vehicles coming to Australia and New Zealand will offer Cadillac Connected Services as well as wireless smartphone projection, which is currently available in Lyriq models (i.e. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto),' the statement read. Note that this says nothing of GM's other all-electric products, like those from Chevrolet.
The Drive has reached out to GM's North American PR team just in case this reflects any change in plans for the domestic market, and will update this article with whatever we learn. Personally, though, I wouldn't hold my breath. GM's been pretty clear, at least on this side of the planet, that it doesn't believe phone projection belongs in its battery-powered vehicles. It's had many opportunities to reconsider the policy over multiple years now. Every time someone from the company is asked about it, they dig their heels in, talking of crafting 'seamless' experiences and not wanting to be 'dependent on [the driver] having a cellphone,' a bold stance in the 2020s. The 2025 Cadillac Optiq. General Motors
Something that may in part explain GM's unique policy down under is the fact that Super Cruise, its Level 3 autonomous highway driving system, isn't legally permitted there. That's one less component of GM's theoretical 'seamless' future driving experience that must be, well, seamless. Our friend Jason Torchinsky over at The Autopian had a great response to one of GM's more recent defenses of its anti-CarPlay stance: The company isn't wrong that in-car software should be friction-free and easy to use—it just miscalculated which part of that experience people care about being easy.
I tend to set one destination per trip in my car, if any at all, versus three, four, who knows how many changes between podcasts and music playlists. I reviewed an Equinox EV some months back, plugged my iPhone in, tapped the little music icon, and saw literal folders of MP3s, organized by artist, like a Creative Zen from 2005. (A Zen would've been easier to use, come to think of it, because those never forced you to peck at tiny icons on a gargantuan display.) I wasn't thrilled to trade media-browsing convenience for Ultify's fancy built-in nav system, especially because there's no good reason anyone should have to. The All Apps menu in a Chevy Equinox EV. Adam Ismail
Someday, I do think GM will go back on this policy. There are plenty of other ways to make money through software-locked features; BMW and Mercedes are inventing new ones practically every day, and you can still get CarPlay and Android Auto in their cars. The easiest, safest in-car interface is the one people know how to use, and nine times out of 10, that's going to be the one on their phone, which is already logged into all of their apps.
Got a tip? Reach out to us at [e-mail]