I don't think CarPlay is ahead what anyone else is doing, Android Auto works in reality much better than CarPlay, at least with my car. The UX of CarPlay makes much less sense, has less functionality and less safety features than Android Auto. And somehow CarPlay is also inverting the rolling control my car has, just like they do with the scrolling on touch pads.

Having an android and an iphone and had two vehicles with both AA and CarPlay, I can confirm that android auto is a much better experience than carplay.

Would a full-cabin CarPlay beat other luxury EV interfaces? I think that's the question. Auto manufacturers produce sub-par software interfaces. Is there a luxury EV that runs purely on android or produces a software interface as good as Apple's?

Not to be pedantic but Volvo already makes atleast one model of an EV (XC40) that runs purely on Android. The android system also allows you to run CarPlay if you connect your iPhone.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20906777/volvo-xc40-suv-e...

That's my point. They can improve the car experience through Carplay and the iPhone. There's no point in manufacturing the entire car.

And ultimately buttons and entertainment centers only move the needle for relatively comparable cars. Apple would first have to get as good at Toyota et al at building the rest of the car before a better UX can win.

If Apple are going for a luxury EV, then they ‘only’ have to get better than Tesla. I hear Tesla still don’t have build quality sorted, and issues can take months to get fixed.

I imagine more practically minded luxury car buyers would jump at an Apple car that met Tesla on the performance front and exceeded them on the ease of ownership.

What other market is large enough for apple to enter? That’s the real question that needs to be answered because if there is no other viable market to deploy their capital then disrupting transportation is a good pick.