latest
Google and Renault race towards a future of Software Defined Vehicles
Virtual testing capability for new AI-enabled features is planned too
Over the last few years, Google has made inroads into the automotive industry with Android Auto to mirror your phone’s features for in-car infotainment, and Android Automotive, an operating system specifically designed for cars, complete with Play Store support and built-in Google Assistant. Now its next step sounds even more ambitious, as the company has announced a new partnership with the French carmaker Renault to create a “software-defined vehicle” based on Android Automotive.
Android Automotive comes to a new all-electric crossover
Renault's new Mégane E-Tech is the first Android Automotive car to skip Intel hardware
Android Automotive might just be the most exciting thing going in the world of Android. Not to be confused with the older Android Auto, Automotive is a ground-up open source operating system for managing a car's entire interaction with the driver. We've seen a lot of commitments from manufacturers like Chevy and Ford, but so far few production vehicles are ready to roll with Android Automotive. French manufacturer Renault might just get the next one out: its new all-electric Mégane E-Tech crossover.
Android Automotive is coming to a lot more vehicles this year — here's which brands are supporting it so far
Meanwhile, BMW is integrating Android Auto more tightly
Read update
Google is trying to take over in-car software with initiatives like Android Auto and Android Automotive OS, and that effort seems to be well received among customers and car manufacturers. The company today announced that there are now over 100 million cars compatible with Android Auto on the road. And Android Automotive, Google's dedicated software kit for in-car infotainment, is also coming to ten more vehicles launching this year.
Google's been at work on infiltrating the automotive industry for a long time. It's managed to wedge its foot firmly in the door with Android Auto, which runs on a wide range of in-market cars from popular brands — but that was never the ultimate goal. After all, Android Auto essentially just mirrors features from an Android device to car's infotainment system, it's not Android running on a car. The latter, more desirable implementation is (somewhat confusingly) called Android Automotive. The Mountain View tech giant showed off its ambitions for this platform at I/O 2018. Now, it's clear the hype was justified; Google has announced a partnership with massive carmaking alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi to run Android Automotive-powered infotainment systems in millions of cars beginning 2021.
French auto manufacturer Renault is now officially on board with Android Auto. This is obviously of little interest to US car buyers, but our European friends are probably keen to know which cars are included. After being listed merely as "coming soon" on the Android Auto site, the page now lists all current and upcoming vehicles from Renault with Android Auto support.