- Tesla is working on adding CarPlay to its vehicles according to new report
- Apple’s infotainment system is popular among buyers
- Tesla has long resisted CarPlay but seems to have changed its mind
Apple’s CarPlay in-car entertainment and navigation system is popular – a survey cited by Apple in 2022 found that 79% of new car buyers considered it when purchasing a vehicle, for example – but there have been some notable holdouts among car manufacturers. Tesla has long been one of those firms, yet in a surprising reversal, a new report claims that it is working to add CarPlay to its electric vehicles.
According to Bloomberg, Tesla “has started testing [CarPlay] capability internally.” This could result in a rollout of the feature “in the coming months,” but “a plan hasn’t been finalized and a release could come later.”
Right now, Tesla uses its own in-car infotainment system, and the company has long resisted adding CarPlay to its fleet of electric cars, despite customer requests. The company’s CEO Elon Musk has frequently feuded with Apple over its App Store policies, its poaching of Tesla engineers for its own shelved electric car project, and other issues.
Lately, things have changed. Bloomberg notes that Apple is a key distributor of Musk’s X app and Grok artificial intelligence (AI) model, while Tesla sales have “softened” recently. The news outlet also claims that some Tesla buyers have cited “the lack of CarPlay support as a reason for not choosing the company’s cars.”
A popular feature
CarPlay is “one of the most highly requested features by customers” and is “considered a must-have option by many drivers,” Bloomberg says, and that claim seems to reflect customer sentiment.
A McKinsey survey in 2024 found that roughly a third of buyers around the world would not consider a car at all if it did not have CarPlay or the rival Android Auto system. That’s a big chunk of potential customers that Tesla is potentially missing out on by shunning CarPlay.
An informal sweep of social media platforms shows many Tesla owners are pleasantly surprised by the news. On Reddit, user hybridfrost stated that having CarPlay would make their navigation experience more seamless and prevent the need to switch to a different mapping app. Reddit user R5Jockey, meanwhile, explained their reason for supporting the move: “Sweet. Hope this actually happens. I’d love to have Waze on the screen.”
Interestingly, it sounds like Tesla’s CarPlay implementation will be somewhat limited. Bloomberg believes that CarPlay will occupy a window within Tesla’s own interface, meaning “the Apple software won’t fully replace the Tesla operating system as it does in many other vehicles.” CarPlay also won’t be able to use features like full self-driving mode, which will still require Tesla’s own navigation app. And Tesla will forego the more advanced version of CarPlay – dubbed CarPlay Ultra – instead opting for the regular edition.
With Tesla’s surprise about-face, one of the main carmakers to resist CarPlay has apparently changed course. That could leave just GM among the large-scale manufacturers to ditch Apple’s system, giving you plenty more choice of vehicles if Apple’s system is a must for you.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
