Rivian CEO Doubles Down on Decision to Not Offer Apple CarPlay

On the latest episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told guest host Joanna Stern why the EV maker continues to pass on Apple's CarPlay — both the standard version and the more advanced CarPlay Ultra.

CarPlay Liquid Glass Light
Echoing his previous comments on the matter, Scaringe said Rivian is focused on offering a "seamless digital experience," where customers do not need to switch between its own software and CarPlay. Instead, he said Rivian prefers to provide an à-la-carte selection of built-in apps, such as Apple Music, Google Maps, Spotify, and YouTube.

Scaringe said he is "very confident" in Rivian's decision to skip CarPlay, especially as it plans to integrate AI into its vehicles over the next 18 months. For example, he said Rivian is planning a native AI-powered voice-to-text feature for messaging.

"We're really convicted on this," he said.

Nevertheless, Scaringe acknowledged that some customers will not purchase a Rivian given the lack of CarPlay. "We accept that," he said.

"Some of those decisions not everyone's going to agree with," he said. "That's okay."

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: Rivian

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Top Rated Comments

supergt Avatar
4 weeks ago
As a consumer, I would not even consider a new car today that doesn't offer CarPlay (preferably wireless).
Score: 84 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jml12286 Avatar
4 weeks ago
Thats sad. Its not like they couldn't just add Carplay and not have it take over they stuff they already have implemented....
Just like on my Ford Lightning, I can either use carplay or not, and it doesn't take away from the built in crap software that some people may prefer.
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Killbill2 Avatar
4 weeks ago
My phone gets an annual update, works seamlessly across all three cars I drive, and even with the restrictions imposed by car manufacturers on CarPlay, it provides some continuity between vehicles. This makes it less distracting and a much less of a safety hazard when switching cars. Rivian's CEO has mini Musk arrogance and shows he's afraid of competition.
Score: 62 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikey918 Avatar
4 weeks ago
This is my number one complaint about my Tesla. CarPlay is just better. Apple Maps is better. I wish I had the choice, but oh well.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tsupersonic Avatar
4 weeks ago
The best part about Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is that it's standard UI/UX across vehicles. If you can't offer it, you're not getting my money.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
osxster Avatar
4 weeks ago
There will be a lot of people who will not buy the car specifically because it doesn't have CarPlay. I sure wouldn't, as I like the experience of my phone. So so hate trying to use different company GPS's software, they never work well, are harder to use and don't have the best experience. So what will happen is the people who buy this car will either buy an ugly external CarPlay screen or a holder for their phone so that they can still use their better phone GPS. Kind of defeats the experience of having one of these cars.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)