Last week, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius made it clear that the automaker has no plans to support Apple’s next-generation CarPlay platform.
In a new interview with The Verge, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath took a different approach and said that he would be open to giving Apple control over all the screens in a Polestar car.
On the Decoder podcast this week, The Verge’s Nilay Patel asked Ingenlath whether Polestar would “take Apple’s CarPlay that takes over every screen in the car and just let Apple’s operating system run everything in the car?”
Ingenlath pushed back on the idea that CarPlay would “run everything in the car.” For example, people assumed that Google Automotive Services would “be the software in the car,” but that’s not actually the case, Ingenlath explained.
The majority of the software of the car is hidden in the background. It is our software that is doing all the drivetrain, the safety, everything. That is where we really talk about this, but it’s an important part. I will not take that away. It’s very important because it’s for the customer.
When asked point-blank: “Apple has CarPlay where it takes over all the screens, not all the software. Would you do it?,” Ingenlath said:
Yeah, of course.
Because I know that they’re not taking over. It is a catered experience. Then you have a certain interface that is a bit different from Apple. I believe that we have to be proud enough and powerful enough in thinking that we actually have a very competitive and great original experience that we make together with the GAS system. I’m not afraid of that competition, and it would be strange to prohibit our customers if they have that preference.
9to5Mac’s Take
Even though Ingenlath danced around the question a bit, this does seem like a piece of good news for next-generation CarPlay.
The interview focuses a weird amount of energy on questioning whether Polestar would “let Apple’s operating system run everything in the car.” That’s not how next-generation CarPlay works. As Bloomberg has reported, next-generation CarPlay still runs on the iPhone. It’s not a “new OS embedded in the vehicle.”
So far, only Aston Martin and Porsche have announced plans to ship their first cars with next-generation CarPlay. Mercedes-Benz has said it has no plans to support the feature, despite being touted by Apple as a partner. GM, of course, has dropped CarPlay entirely with its EVs.
I encourage you to listen to or read Ingenlath’s full interview with The Verge. He lays out one of the most coherent explanations of in-car infotainment that I’ve heard in a long time.
Now, we just need Polestar to actually announce availability of next-generation CarPlay. Of note: Ingenlath paid a visit to Apple Park last spring.
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