Android Auto sold me my car, now carmakers are betting it'll sell you one too

When I bought my car this year, Android Auto was on my must-have list next to the fuel economy numbers.

Nobody thinks of phone projection as a premium tech package extra anymore. It's a baseline spec, as expected, like air conditioning is now.

I know plenty of buyers feel the same way. A 2024 McKinsey survey found roughly a third of car buyers would walk away from a vehicle that doesn't support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

The infotainment system carries more weight in a purchase decision than ever, and that's because the current wave of buyers spent their teens arguing about software ecosystems for fun.

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By  Karandeep Singh Oberoi

Why Android Auto was make-or-break

Turns out I'd already picked a side at fifteen

I build AI pipelines and review phones for a living, which makes me a lot pickier about a car's software than the average petrolhead.

Picky or not, I'm not alone, and it comes down to convenience. Why would I skip Android Auto when Google Maps knows about the crash on my commute before the car's own sat nav has any idea?

My podcasts and Spotify AI playlists pick up where I paused them in the kitchen, on an interface I use every day.

The cherry on top is that each Android update makes my car a little better, without me having to wait for the manufacturer to get around to it.

Any car that couldn't do all that got crossed off the list. But Android Auto was as far as my budget would stretch, and it's already an older idea. The next era of car tech I'm keeping an eye on doesn't need my phone.

Gemini and the software-defined car

Your 2022 Chevy is about to start talking

As of this writing, "smart car" has come to mean a car that talks back.

GM is pushing Google Gemini over the air to roughly 4 million eligible 2022 and newer Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC vehicles in the US, as long as they have Google built in.

Volvo and Polestar are extending it to cars as old as 2020, back to the original Polestar 2, the first car to ship with Google built-in.

If that sounds familiar, it's because Gemini started replacing Google Assistant in Android Auto late last year, where it runs Maps and reads your messages from the phone. The difference is what it can reach.

In a car with Google built-in, Gemini runs inside the Android Automotive operating system, so it can do more tricks like adjusting the climate or checking the battery.

Everyone is chasing this idea, and that's either brilliant or infuriating, depending on how often AI misreads the situation.

The aftermarket can't catch up anymore

Suction cups can't see the merge lane

The old rule of thumb was to skip the pricey trim and fix the stereo yourself. Well, that won't work for much longer.

You can still add Android Auto, Gemini included, but the definition of an intelligent car I described above is something I can't imagine retrofitting.

On the Polestar 4, native Google Maps can already use one of the front-facing cameras for live lane guidance, reading physical road signs and showing you which lane you need before a highway merge.

Google's I/O demo went further, with Gemini in a Volvo EX60 darkening the sunroof and describing the view out of a front camera on request.

Neither a big-box head unit nor a vent-mounted phone can make use of the car's cameras or warm up the battery, and that includes the Gemini on your phone.

Cars outlive their chips, and that's a problem

If this sounds too good to be true, here's what I'm worried about. Cars routinely stay on the road for well over a decade.

The infotainment chip inside, however, is a different story. Processors age like phones or laptops do, which puts their shelf life closer to three years.

Automakers also have a habit of underestimating what their software will demand, and history suggests they'll keep doing it.

It was probably already a generation behind your phone when the car left the factory, and the software it has to run only gets heavier.

Software abandonment is the other problem. When you buy a software-defined vehicle, you're betting the automaker will keep pushing over-the-air updates years after it has banked your money.

If there's no published life cycle plan, a mechanically healthy car can still end up obsolete. But even with all that, I'm glad I shopped this way, and I'd do it the same way next time.