[SunWizard]

This sounds good, I wonder how soon they release the apps?
Electrify America announced Thursday it will bring its app to both smartphone mirroring systems, with native support. In other words, you'll be able to use the Electrify America app straight from your EV's infotainment screen.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto gain Electrify America app support

Finding an EV charger through Electrify America will be much easier with native support for the smartphone mirroring tech.

www.cnet.com

 

[plh]

Wonder if they will somehow tie into the navigation on each platform. That might make too much sense...

 

[SunWizard]

It will at least use the GPS of the car. I expect it will be very similar to the current EA app, but maybe they will optimize the layout a little for the bigger screens on the car.

 

[sprylo]

This sounds good, I wonder how soon they release the apps?

Like the Cnet article, the press release just says "this week."

 

[J. Walter Weatherman]

It will at least use the GPS of the car.

Why do you say that? It seems way more likely to me that it will just be using the GPS of the phone.

 

[hilld]

So how will the NFC scanner work? Do you have to crash into the charger for it to recognize your account so you can get the free charging?

 

[SunWizard]

Why do you say that? It seems way more likely to me that it will just be using the GPS of the phone.

Yes you are right, they probably will do the minimal changes they can from the way the EA app now works on your phone and keep using its GPS and data plan.

 

[stealthg]

Wonder if they will somehow tie into the navigation on each platform. That might make too much sense...

The current iOS app sends the address to apple maps if you touch directions. I'm sure that it will do that in CarPlay. It treats it as an external monitor, more or less.

 

[ericy]

This sounds good, I wonder how soon they release the apps?
Electrify America announced Thursday it will bring its app to both smartphone mirroring systems, with native support. In other words, you'll be able to use the Electrify America app straight from your EV's infotainment screen.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto gain Electrify America app support

Finding an EV charger through Electrify America will be much easier with native support for the smartphone mirroring tech.

www.cnet.com

That sounds just like screen mirroring from the phone, and not an app running on the car itself, which is something, I guess.

It sounds like VW is just starting to roll out an actual app that runs on the car - that potentially opens up other possibilities.

 

[sprylo]

Why do you say that? It seems way more likely to me that it will just be using the GPS of the phone.

I can't comment on Android Auto, but in CarPlay, the vehicle passes its GPS location data (and vehicle speed) to the phone and the phone will use that over its own GPS data as long as CarPlay is connected. A nice exposed antenna on the roof is almost always going to get better location data than a phone tucked away in a cubby in a big metal box of a car. Apple recommends that all CarPlay systems provide location information, but requires it for wireless CarPlay. This is true even for vehicles without navigation (my 2017 Golf didn't have nav, but it did have a GPS antenna that provided location information through CarPlay).

Apps running on the phone just ask the OS for the location - they can't tell where that location data originates. So the "GPS of the phone" IS the car's GPS as long as CarPlay is connected. In iOS 15, apps will be able to look at a location's isProducedByAccessory property to determine if the location information came from "off phone," but they still won't be able to request one or the other data source.

 

[J. Walter Weatherman]

I can't comment on Android Auto, but in CarPlay, the vehicle passes its GPS location data (and vehicle speed) to the phone and the phone will use that over its own GPS data as long as CarPlay is connected.

Interesting. I thought it was more of just a glorified screen mirroring. Sounds like it is much more complicated than I realized!

 

[Nai3t]

Why do you say that? It seems way more likely to me that it will just be using the GPS of the phone.

Android Auto defaults to the vehicle's GPS, unless it senses something is up and reverts to the phone's location.

 

[Nai3t]

I'm not complaining, but it reads like just another stand-alone app, just like Maps, Waze, and ABRP compete for my attention, it sounds like this will be one more standalone app on the list. It seems like, for at least the navigation part of it, I'll have equal success in searching "Electrify America" in Google Maps.

More options are good, but we really need VW to roll out their version of Plug 'n Charge.

 

[bsalih]

I can't comment on Android Auto, but in CarPlay, the vehicle passes its GPS location data (and vehicle speed) to the phone and the phone will use that over its own GPS data as long as CarPlay is connected. A nice exposed antenna on the roof is almost always going to get better location data than a phone tucked away in a cubby in a big metal box of a car. Apple recommends that all CarPlay systems provide location information, but requires it for wireless CarPlay. This is true even for vehicles without navigation (my 2017 Golf didn't have nav, but it did have a GPS antenna that provided location information through CarPlay).

Apps running on the phone just ask the OS for the location - they can't tell where that location data originates. So the "GPS of the phone" IS the car's GPS as long as CarPlay is connected. In iOS 15, apps will be able to look at a location's isProducedByAccessory property to determine if the location information came from "off phone," but they still won't be able to request one or the other data source.

It should request the SoC as well, then any maps app can give a route for charge stops with actual data rather then guessing. I know evnotify-abrp integration but it is just a workaround

 

[sprylo]

It should request the SoC as well, then any maps app can give a route for charge stops with actual data rather then guessing. I know evnotify-abrp integration but it is just a workaround

Agreed. Apple supposedly rolled out EV routing support in iOS 14, but it required support in the automaker's own app. When the feature was revealed, they said they were working with Ford and BMW, but since then it seems to have disappeared.

 

[cosev]

Agreed. Apple supposedly rolled out EV routing support in iOS 14, but it required support in the automaker's own app. When the feature was revealed, they said they were working with Ford and BMW, but since then it seems to have disappeared.

A support document on BMW’s site now says the feature will come in 2022. (See the update at the bottom of this page: Apple’s WWDC 2020 Maps-Related Announcements—One Year Later)

 

[mochalatte]

A support document on BMW’s site now says the feature will come in 2022. (See the update at the bottom of this page: Apple’s WWDC 2020 Maps-Related Announcements—One Year Later)

I can only imagine all the dealings going on in the background between multiple parties ranging in size from small to huge trying to deliver this seemingly straight-forward & vital feature of live EV routing.

Apple <---> Google <---> All the car manufacturers <---> All the EV Charging Networks

Any egos in the room when they come together???

Then in addition to all the normal routing & traffic information you have
All the various car <---> infotainment APIs for SOC, live efficiency trend, car weight
And maybe also aerodynamic state (carrying bikes/kayaks/luggage) and towing via API
Geological surveys for elevation
Current and forecasted weather
Live information about the availability of charging stations including current and forecasted occupancy

Then there's the ABRP team out there who took all of this on in garage-band style and I'm sure Apple and Google are balancing the decision to buy them out, license their technology, or simply steam-roll them. I know the smart and hard-working people at ABRP hate being tiny compared to Apple & Google.

Anyway the future is exciting and it will be fascinating to see how all of this plays out. We all want/need this feature so badly and the sooner that Apple & Google Maps pulls all this off the better.

 

[ericy]

It is there now. The app is kind of basic - you can look for a charger, and if you try to navigate to it, it brings up Google maps with a route planned in

 

[wtatun]

Yup, that EA app is there now (since yesterday) on Apple Car Play. Basic still, but a step in the right direction and sets the “framework” for new features. Forward progress, however slight, is still progress…..

 

[ericy]

There was this as well:

Basically VW pushed down a native app into the car that shows local chargers and integrates with native navigation. I think the best way to view this as a proof of concept type of thing, so it doesn't make that much sense to criticize it for what they did here. My own thinking is that if they start to go down this road, the builtin navigation app gets updated more or less once a quarter, but the apps themselves don't need to wait - they can be pushed down independently. At this point we know nothing about whether VW will support 3rd party apps of one sort or another.