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Volvo's First CarPlay Vehicle in the U.S. is the 2016 XC90, Available Now
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This is the first Volvo design since Ford sold them in 2012. Voted motortrend SUV of the year, tons of design awards, etc. It has those first gen glitches but otherwise an incredible car.
This is why I bought one...beware, the waiting list was looooong. I believe if you order right now it will be April before you can get one. I ordered in September and it just arrived last week.
The base in the range of the hybrid Highlander, the Lexus RX Hybrid, and the Pilot Elite. Fully loaded, you'll pay close to $70k. Modestly loaded, $63k. Base, $50k.
What really makes Volvo's implementation work best is that the console has a ton of horsepower. There is no lag and slow response times, it's also capacitive + infrared so it works with gloves or without.
These consoles are going to be dangerous. In fact, I'm guessing these cars will prove to be the most dangerous cars built in the last decade or two. Too many distractions. And don't tell me that pressing a button and having a conversation with Siri isn't going to prove to be just as dangerous as driving with half a dozen beers in you, because it will be. Your conscious brain CANNOT multi-task. Now it can shift gears from one task to another very quickly. But when you are thinking about and interacting with console, you will not be a good driver. And the more times per ride that you do that interaction, the more often that moment of distraction can coincide with a surprise event on the road.
Fortunately, rudimentary auto break features should be available in all cars in just a few years from now. We really just need some form auto break to not hit car or pedestrian in front of us. So we will go back to being safer. And then driverless cars will really help out. But autobreak is the key thing that needs to be added with these gizmos. Tesla has that figured out and that is why they are releasing auto drive now.
But for other cars this stop gap isn't going to work. A touch screen without tactile feedback but with lots of changing things to interact with is going to be a distraction.
Fortunately, rudimentary auto break features should be available in all cars in just a few years from now. We really just need some form auto break to not hit car or pedestrian in front of us. So we will go back to being safer. And then driverless cars will really help out. But autobreak is the key thing that needs to be added with these gizmos. Tesla has that figured out and that is why they are releasing auto drive now.
But for other cars this stop gap isn't going to work. A touch screen without tactile feedback but with lots of changing things to interact with is going to be a distraction.
Talking to Siri as dangerous as being about 4 drinks beyond the legal limit? How in the hell have we dealt with talking to our wives and kids? Remember when changing radio stations was a freaking little red line that slid behind a piece of glass that you could barely see? This XC90 comes with so many autonomous features that the rest of your rant is really not necessary. It has complete autodriving up to 30 mph and software upgradeable to 80 mph...as well as the autobraking. It's been dubbed the safest car the world has every seen..also has 360 degree cameras that monitor for cars and pedestrians. Even has airbags in the hood so if you actually DO hit one, they are cushioned as they hit the hood. Volvo's goal is no fatalities in a Volvo by 2020...I think they might know a thing or two about safety, btw.
In case you were unaware, many of these features lock while you're driving, you need to spend some time with this before you judge.
Oh, one more thing. Compare this to fumbling with your smartphone in a rental car while you try to learn a new system that isn't quite syncing correctly with what you have. It's like night and day. Every car you get into will have an identical experience as well, which solves the biggest problem between all of these disparate systems.
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looks like an ipad mini embedded into the dash.
which brings me again and again to the question: isn't there no one (I'm looking at you, apple) who is
able to create a "carplay" app for IPADs? I like my current car, and i don't want to shell out 10s of $k
just to have a $300 extra so i can use my iphone properly. then i could grab an ipad mini2 which has
way more power than any ordinary automotive gear usually installed in them permium cars, stick it to the
dash, connect headphones to aux in, and there i fixed it.
like i'd need those cd-radios and stuff like that. just a plain and simple amp with volume control. i'd bet
the ipad's or iphone's dual noise canceling mics easily outperform the usual manufacturer installed
handsfree sets.
i mean via bluetooth and apps made by car manufacturers even the communication with the vehicle could be solved.
which brings me again and again to the question: isn't there no one (I'm looking at you, apple) who is
able to create a "carplay" app for IPADs? I like my current car, and i don't want to shell out 10s of $k
just to have a $300 extra so i can use my iphone properly. then i could grab an ipad mini2 which has
way more power than any ordinary automotive gear usually installed in them permium cars, stick it to the
dash, connect headphones to aux in, and there i fixed it.
like i'd need those cd-radios and stuff like that. just a plain and simple amp with volume control. i'd bet
the ipad's or iphone's dual noise canceling mics easily outperform the usual manufacturer installed
handsfree sets.
i mean via bluetooth and apps made by car manufacturers even the communication with the vehicle could be solved.
Awesome. If it has autobraking that is great and all that other stuff, then I stand corrected.
The old radio was something that we didn't adjust so much and you used a tactile control and you listened for when you hit a station, you didn't really ever look at the lines. These consoles that allow us get our tweets read to us and engage in instant message chats are going to be more distracting. That information is more engaging than the latest pop song. Email and instant message requires more concentration. But maybe as you say the other features are coming at the same time and they will more than compensate for these distractions. I certainly hope so.
And as for surviving other passengers the reality is that a lot of people don't survive. There are lots of car wrecks and deaths; an average of nearly 100 per day in the U.S. I believe. There are studies that show a teenager becomes a terrible driver once another teenager is in the car with them. The distractions pile up and they do have an impact.
It's exactly the size of an iPad screen, not the mini. It's also more powerful than you think. And we're talking about a luxury SUV here, it's not going to be beaten so easily as they are using top shelf components.
How about fumbling with big paper maps? Reading billboards? Hell, this car takes pictures of roadsigns you pass and puts them in the center of your dashboard in case you missed them. It warns you if you exceed the speed limit that it actually grabs using OCR instead of GPS data. It's pretty crazy how much thought has been put into safety in this thing. Now a new Hyundai Sonata with CarPlay? That's probably a death trap, I agree.
Teenagers get the red key fob, it prevents them from driving over certain speeds and fumbling with the console while driving. That fob is also great for valets who want to take a joy ride in your car. The reality here is that Volvo is the same company that brought you the 3 point seatbelt you've been using for 30 years and they are more aware than any of us how to prevent fatalities. Take a look at this: http://www.volvosavedmylife.com/
The XC90 has brake and gas pedals with small explosive charges that shoot them away from the floor in an accident, preventing them from taking your foot off as you slide forward as happens so often. If you're going to be hit from behind, it tightens the seatbelts so you don't have room for whiplash and applies the brakes so the car doesn't become a projectile.
That is one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen. I wouldn't drive one if you gave it to me for free.
SUVs are the way to go. Sedans, no way.
Nice. But if I go Volvo it'll probably be an S60 for me. If not that then back to BMW for a 328.
besides the fact that they are bigger and thus more likely to kill occupants of other cars in crashes, they use a lot of fuel, they are big and block vision at intersections etc. Despite my family do have an SUV as it was the only thing that met specific needs, but I do so acknowledging their pitfalls.
Safety features are always good, but they are not a substitute for non distracted driving, they should be in addition to non distracted driving (e.g. keeping your eyes on the road). I'm not sure how much of Carplay you can access while driving but from experience in other touch screen car systems, it will probably be too much. Looking down at a touch screen when your eyes should be on the road is inherently dangerous. I'm sick to death of the number of people who think their social life or whatever is above the importance of other's lives, I observe from the bus people fiddling with car touch screens, using phones and smartwatches while driving, and I've witness so many near accidents as a result- If its an emergency, pull over if possible because otherwise your phone call/text/social media is not that important. I would think at most Siri is the only way people should be able to interact with phones in cars (and probably hands free with steering wheel controls), but even then apparently that is distracting. Sure there will always be distractions in the car, but saying that other things are distractions is not really an excuse for adding more in the form of technology.
I am not impressed with carplay. I upgraded and tried it one day. Haven't since. It's very limited. The only navigation app is apple maps. So basically I still use the navigation on my phone. Until apple opens up the apis for this. Its going to be quite useless.
If you haven't been in the automotive business at the design level, you don't know the crap you go trough to get a new model out and into production. Thanks to Ralph Nader and others, the automotive industry is very litigation minded concerning ANY new change going into a design. While there were some negligent designs such as the Pinto gas tank and the Corvair suspension, it is now common practice to over review. I'm sure lot of hours were put into making sure the center stack display featuring CarPlay did not overly distract the driver. Installing software in a car is a lot more involved than downloading an app to your phone.
CarPlay isn't distracting really.
I have a pioneer head unit and CarPlay doesn't show any information at the same time as doing anything else.
For example if your in the music app you can't see directions. It will pop up and show you but it literally is one thing at a time.
Android Auto is my preferred use in my own car as I think it's far more capable and pretty than CarPlay but absolutely distracting. The home screen shows music, directions, appointments, messages etc. I think it is very very cool but very very distracting.
I have a pioneer head unit and CarPlay doesn't show any information at the same time as doing anything else.
For example if your in the music app you can't see directions. It will pop up and show you but it literally is one thing at a time.
Android Auto is my preferred use in my own car as I think it's far more capable and pretty than CarPlay but absolutely distracting. The home screen shows music, directions, appointments, messages etc. I think it is very very cool but very very distracting.
Most VWs have CarPlay support on the 2016 models. I know that the 2016 Golf and 2016 Tiguan (SE) support CarPlay. The MIBII system supports it, but on some models, you have to upgrade to a higher trim to get it.