Many drivers would rather stop, roll down the window, and ask directions than pull out their phone, look up an appointment’s location address, and enter it into a vehicle’s native navigation system. They also get pretty cross about trying to program in the podcast they were listening to as they walked up to their vehicle. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto vastly simplify these tasks, and they eliminate the need to learn how to program infrequently used rental, borrowed, or cohabitants’ cars. It’s likely been a stumbling block for EV (relative) newcomers Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid—none of which offer these features; and it’s bound to cost General Motors more than a few prospective customers as it gradually phases the feature out in the coming years.
Bucking this trend is Stellantis, which is planning to include the popular screen-mirroring features in its new STLA Brain-powered STLA Smart Cockpit, set to begin rolling out with new fully software-defined vehicles that debut in 2025 or after. Stellantis isn’t saying what sort of data- and dollar-sharing deal it’s done to make keeping the systems pencil out (we have surmised that these were among the reasons GM is parting ways with the platforms). But we expect Stellantis is following Porsche down a road that more deeply integrates CarPlay into the system. New Porsches will be able to share certain CarPlay information on the driver information screen, for example.
Stellantis envisions selling apps and subscriptions that work on these screen-mirroring platforms, with mention of a geocaching app, and a new EV-route planning app we’re eager to try called e-ROUTES. This smart-phone-based EV-route planning platform is unique in its ability to draw information about critical factors such as battery state-of-charge and energy-usage rates directly from the vehicle via cellular link with the cloud. The maps will look refreshingly familiar to anyone accustomed to Waze or Google Maps.
Stellantis claims it is now connected to 13.8 million “monetizable” vehicles. It has distributed over 94 million over-the-air updates to these cars, but more important, the monetization alluded to has grown by a factor of 2.5 between 2021 and 2025. Those numbers comprise chart lines that Stellantis is keen to see continue climbing up and to the right. If a smart-phone connection via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto helps keep all those cars and customers contentedly connected, that will very likely happen.