Rivian CEO: "We’re really convicted" about skipping CarPlay (The Verge interview 10/6/25))

[gultin]

https://www.theverge.com/podcast/790685/rivian-ceo-rj-scaringe-r2-tariffs-china-ev-apple-carplay

Let the fireworks resume

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[mkg3]

It'll fizzle out.. I think most of us have accepted and are past CP/AA thing.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Ya usually don’t want to say you’re convicted on or of anything lol.

Plus, his basic premise is off. CarPlay does not need to run full screen. You 100% can have CarPlay as an app that runs alongside the car’s native OS/interface.

 

[COdogman]

 

[Donald Stanfield]

RJ is right, the Rivian experience will eventually surpass CarPlay and be much more valuable for Rivian and as he said if he's okay with losing some sales of CarPlay hardliners because of it. Really this whole thing is moot anyways now that EVPlay exists. Just buy one of those and get your CarPlay if you really want it.

 

[SASSquatch]

I think Rivian has bigger fish to fry than worrying about carplay IMHO. Order of importance:

1A. Make sure you have a smooth rollout of R2
1B. FIX YOUR QUALITY CONTROL so you stop overwhelming SCs with vehicles that shouldn't have come off the line.
2. Start a subscription program whereby interested buyers can subscribe (including insurance) to a vehicle month to month. You said at one time you would do this. Now is that time. This is a great way to deal with existing inventory and entice buyers into the Rivian family without a huge upfront commitment.
3. V2 PTC should be the STANDARD option. Why are you selling an inferior version at all?
4. 2 frunk magnets and wood grain accented headrest hooks forever!!
5. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme R3/x!

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

I think Rivian has bigger fish to fry than worrying about carplay IMHO. Order of importance:

1A. Make sure you have a smooth rollout of R2
1B. FIX YOUR QUALITY CONTROL so you stop overwhelming SCs with vehicles that shouldn't have come off the line.
2. Start a subscription program whereby interested buyers can subscribe (including insurance) to a vehicle month to month. You said at one time you would do this. Now is that time. This is a great way to deal with existing inventory and entice buyers into the Rivian family without a huge upfront commitment.
3. V2 PTC should be the STANDARD option. Why are you selling an inferior version at all?
4. 2 frunk magnets and wood grain accented headrest hooks forever!!
5. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme R3/x!

For sure. And a starting price of $45k as the basic R2 is a non starter. Because that means the R2 is really 50-55. Tesla is about to unveil a Y quite below that. Contrary to Scaringe’s thinking, people do not want an R2 for off-roading. Off roading capabilities will not get people to pay more.

 

[SocalDune]

Rivian wants to own the full stack, bringing in Apple CarPlay goes against this.

Plus Apples’s privacy constraints would restrict Rivian from accessing the user data. That’s probably the biggest reason.

 

[darren1f]

Ya usually don’t want to say you’re convicted on or of anything lol.

Plus, his basic premise is off. CarPlay does not need to run full screen. You 100% can have CarPlay as an app that runs alongside the car’s native OS/interface.

And it’s always a disjointed mess. Good native vehicle software is the best solution. Rivian offers that.

 

[portdirect]

The language here is consistent with other interviews, and doubles down on aspects. I think Lidar for R2 is all but officially confirmed: It's really veering into a type of glomar response at this point

This is the 1st time RJ himself (that I know of) has talked about the cost of Lidar now being in the low hundreds of dollars, which previously Rivian said would would be the criteria required to integrate into a product.

My money is on a solid state lidar being in the R2 for mid to close range environmental mapping.

Edit: grammar and smelling

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

4. 2 frunk magnets and wood grain accented headrest hooks forever!!

Was climbing all over the Gen 2's at the Tysons Corner showroom yesterday. Hadn't realized they'd removed the hinge and frunk magnets before. Seems like a "miss" to lose that convenience of being able to hold the shelf up. I know "cost cutting and all that", but really it's one magnet, how much could it cost? $10?

 

[DuoRivians]

Rivian has no upside discussing CarPlay. It only attracts fanatics who aren’t good for Rivian

 

[Laserboy1054]

I have literally never heard or read the phrase "car play" outside of this forum. It's been a good life! I think I'll keep it that way. Perhaps I'm missing out on a good thing. The people who encourage me to eat Surströmming also tell me I'm missing out on a good thing. I am coping with the tragic void in my life left by not even knowing what Car Play is or knowing what fermented canned fish tastes like. But I wish nothing but happiness to those people who do partake of these pleasures.

 

[defcon888]

When we first got our Gen1 R1T back in May of 2023 I was hoping and praying for CarPlay. We have it in our Toyota Rav4 Prime and I use to it. But, now that I am use to the Rivian display, I dont need it. CarPlay doesn't give ME (in my opinion) anything that the Rivian system doesn't already have. I use Apple Music, Spotify & Navigation and since Google Maps is now integrated with the nav system, I am happy.

The only thing I miss is the messaging capabilities and telling me how many messages I have. I know I can scream "hey Alexa.........." but why?. I actually have my phone in "driver" mode and it won't disturb me while I am driving. If my wife of someone wants to call me, it will ring and I can answer.

 

[Dark-Fx]

For sure. And a starting price of $45k as the basic R2 is a non starter. Because that means the R2 is really 50-55. Tesla is about to unveil a Y quite below that. Contrary to Scaringe’s thinking, people do not want an R2 for off-roading. Off roading capabilities will not get people to pay more.

Depends. What hasn't Rivian shown us yet? Will there be another trim in a year or two that's more off-road focused? Lots of people like the R1S's capabilities but want a smaller vehicle.

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