As an owner, this actually bums me out because I’d much rather have CarPlay/AA vs a half baked integrated system that doesn’t know much about me at all.
As an owner, this actually bums me out because I’d much rather have CarPlay/AA vs a half baked integrated system that doesn’t know much about me at all.
An EV knowing about its own state of charge, its own capabilities, data about your previous trips, data about your intended route, and data about charging infrastructure seems exactly like the...
An EV knowing about its own state of charge, its own capabilities, data about your previous trips, data about your intended route, and data about charging infrastructure seems exactly like the kind of thing that I'd rather have the vehicle manage, rather than CarPlay/Android Auto. I realize not everyone thinks like me, but my mental model for how an EV should be is like an appliance—I want it to manage its own concerns. Navigation, in general, is edging up to the border and I can see it from other perspectives. I know Apple and Google are building out similar route planning functionality into their offerings. I'm skeptical they'll be able to do routing better than ABRP, though. I think this is will be a competitive advantage for Rivian, but I also hope they don't use this as a cudgel to beat customers with to say, "Look, you don't need CarPlay/Android Auto because we do route planning best." Ideally, Rivian would let customers choose whatever option they want.
I mean, you can use abrp over carplay. And, as seen in the taycan and polestar 2, can access vehicle information as well. I (and I’m guessing most EV owners) need charger based route planning for...
I mean, you can use abrp over carplay. And, as seen in the taycan and polestar 2, can access vehicle information as well. I (and I’m guessing most EV owners) need charger based route planning for ~<5% of drives. Most owners are starting a day with 80% and arriving home with 60% and plugging in. Day to day ease of use is much more interesting to me.
Edit: in practice, Rivian nav is terribad in urban traffic. It seems to want to put me in bumper to bumper.
Don't get me wrong—I want to see Rivian change their tune in regard to allowing customer choice in the way they interact with their vehicles and their personal computing devices and software. But,...
I mean, you can use abrp over carplay.
Don't get me wrong—I want to see Rivian change their tune in regard to allowing customer choice in the way they interact with their vehicles and their personal computing devices and software. But, I imagine that Rivian will either limit this or drop it entirely in the future. If they are acquiring ABRP, I see no only competitive disadvantages to Rivian allowing other car manufacturers to access the same services via CarPlay or Android Auto or native interfaces.
Yep, it’s very clear that they think they can execute a Tesla style full stack experience. I’ve had the truck for 6months now and can very adamantly say that the infotainment software is a huge...
Yep, it’s very clear that they think they can execute a Tesla style full stack experience. I’ve had the truck for 6months now and can very adamantly say that the infotainment software is a huge huge miss. Literally everything else about the truck has been fantastic.
God, I hope this is true. ABRP adds so much value to my EV. If it’s discontinued in the near future, I’ll be heartbroken. It’s the perfect EV road-trip companion and I haven’t really found...
We’re also told that Rivian has no plans to shut down either the front-end service for other EV owners who still want to use the service for their non-Rivian EVs nor the back end service for other carmakers and services.
God, I hope this is true. ABRP adds so much value to my EV. If it’s discontinued in the near future, I’ll be heartbroken. It’s the perfect EV road-trip companion and I haven’t really found anything comparable without doing most of the legwork myself.
This is a super strategic acquisition. With my Rivian investor hat on, I see why they would want to do this. If I take that hat off, though, this sounds terrible for the consumers of ABRP's apps...
This is a super strategic acquisition. With my Rivian investor hat on, I see why they would want to do this. If I take that hat off, though, this sounds terrible for the consumers of ABRP's apps and APIs. This seems a bit like Apple acquiring Dark Sky. Like, yes, it totally makes sense—why invest in building out a thing yourself when someone else has already done what you want? But, it also suuuuuucks for users. I wonder what sort of consumer protection laws could exist that would prevent these sorts of acquisitions? These kinds of acquisitions are exemplars for when corporate interests are totally misaligned with the public good.
We’re also told that Rivian has no plans to shut down either the front-end service for other EV owners who still want to use the service for their non-Rivian EVs nor the back end service for other carmakers and services.
This is worth nothing! I like Rivian's vision and wish them the best, but I am not naive enough to take verbal promises from corporations at face value. Are there any alternatives to ABRP that could try to fill that gap in case Rivian shutters the public services?
Kinda-sorta; that's the main gist of it but there are a number of more advanced features that make it more worthwhile. It estimates how far your specific car can go and selects the optimal...
Kinda-sorta; that's the main gist of it but there are a number of more advanced features that make it more worthwhile. It estimates how far your specific car can go and selects the optimal charging stations that are on the way.
It’s honestly a godsend. It routes using details about your specific EV model, allows you to configure parameters or specifications like preferred charging networks/added vehicle weight/minimum...
It’s honestly a godsend. It routes using details about your specific EV model, allows you to configure parameters or specifications like preferred charging networks/added vehicle weight/minimum arrival charge/etc., and even gets live vehicle metrics if you have an OBD dongle to adjust its routing accordingly. When my partner and I moved across the country, ABRP made planning a four-day road trip as new EV owners so much easier. Haven’t planned a longer road trip without it since. Hope Rivian truly does make it better instead of keeping it for themselves.
As an owner, this actually bums me out because I’d much rather have CarPlay/AA vs a half baked integrated system that doesn’t know much about me at all.
An EV knowing about its own state of charge, its own capabilities, data about your previous trips, data about your intended route, and data about charging infrastructure seems exactly like the kind of thing that I'd rather have the vehicle manage, rather than CarPlay/Android Auto. I realize not everyone thinks like me, but my mental model for how an EV should be is like an appliance—I want it to manage its own concerns. Navigation, in general, is edging up to the border and I can see it from other perspectives. I know Apple and Google are building out similar route planning functionality into their offerings. I'm skeptical they'll be able to do routing better than ABRP, though. I think this is will be a competitive advantage for Rivian, but I also hope they don't use this as a cudgel to beat customers with to say, "Look, you don't need CarPlay/Android Auto because we do route planning best." Ideally, Rivian would let customers choose whatever option they want.
I mean, you can use abrp over carplay. And, as seen in the taycan and polestar 2, can access vehicle information as well. I (and I’m guessing most EV owners) need charger based route planning for ~<5% of drives. Most owners are starting a day with 80% and arriving home with 60% and plugging in. Day to day ease of use is much more interesting to me.
Edit: in practice, Rivian nav is terribad in urban traffic. It seems to want to put me in bumper to bumper.
Don't get me wrong—I want to see Rivian change their tune in regard to allowing customer choice in the way they interact with their vehicles and their personal computing devices and software. But, I imagine that Rivian will either limit this or drop it entirely in the future. If they are acquiring ABRP, I see no only competitive disadvantages to Rivian allowing other car manufacturers to access the same services via CarPlay or Android Auto or native interfaces.
Yep, it’s very clear that they think they can execute a Tesla style full stack experience. I’ve had the truck for 6months now and can very adamantly say that the infotainment software is a huge huge miss. Literally everything else about the truck has been fantastic.
God, I hope this is true. ABRP adds so much value to my EV. If it’s discontinued in the near future, I’ll be heartbroken. It’s the perfect EV road-trip companion and I haven’t really found anything comparable without doing most of the legwork myself.
This is a super strategic acquisition. With my Rivian investor hat on, I see why they would want to do this. If I take that hat off, though, this sounds terrible for the consumers of ABRP's apps and APIs. This seems a bit like Apple acquiring Dark Sky. Like, yes, it totally makes sense—why invest in building out a thing yourself when someone else has already done what you want? But, it also suuuuuucks for users. I wonder what sort of consumer protection laws could exist that would prevent these sorts of acquisitions? These kinds of acquisitions are exemplars for when corporate interests are totally misaligned with the public good.
This is worth nothing! I like Rivian's vision and wish them the best, but I am not naive enough to take verbal promises from corporations at face value. Are there any alternatives to ABRP that could try to fill that gap in case Rivian shutters the public services?
What exactly makes this a EV-specific route planner? Does it just route based on EV-charging locations?
Kinda-sorta; that's the main gist of it but there are a number of more advanced features that make it more worthwhile. It estimates how far your specific car can go and selects the optimal charging stations that are on the way.
It’s honestly a godsend. It routes using details about your specific EV model, allows you to configure parameters or specifications like preferred charging networks/added vehicle weight/minimum arrival charge/etc., and even gets live vehicle metrics if you have an OBD dongle to adjust its routing accordingly. When my partner and I moved across the country, ABRP made planning a four-day road trip as new EV owners so much easier. Haven’t planned a longer road trip without it since. Hope Rivian truly does make it better instead of keeping it for themselves.