[Steverino]

we opted for Toyota because of no Android Auto

f you were looking at the cheaper LT Equinox trim, then there really is not another EV at that price with similar range.

For some, Android Auto support is a critical, must have need in a car. YMMV

 

[tizan]

For some, Android Auto support is a critical, must have need in a car. YMMV

This is a fascinating and sometimes befuddling cultural thing to me....My priorities was EV, comfort and tech do-das(folding mirror, camera mirror, hud etc) in that order ...Others Car-projection system from their phones trumps everything else...even going ICE. Not criticizing ...just quite different needs and way of thinking when car driving.

 

[Gocheif]

After 6 months with the Eq EV, I agree that the Android Automotive system in the vehicle is superior to anything that could have been done with Android Auto or Carplay. All the apps I need and use in the car are there. The use of the screen size, knowing where charging stations are and conditioning battery automatically, integration of the car's settings and controls, integration with the instrument cluster. Even if you forget your phone or it is dead, everything still works as expected. These things were just not possible with traditional Android Auto or Carplay and GM made a wise choice.

 

[ratfactor]

Thinking i could get trapped in costly subscription technologies like mandatory internet plan with onStar with subscription for navigation and supercruise, i think i've made the decision to look for another car (i had made a deposit on this car already at dealership).

What other car i should look into, i know there is the EV6 or the Ioniq... maybe the Mustang... i don't know.

What other cars are you looking into (for those who are not 100% sure going with the Equinox)?

I can't imagine why the lack of Android Auto would be a deal breaker! We have it on our Outback and Google maps is built-in on the Equinox. Phone pairs with the car without issue so all calling works great. The built-in map has EV features that aren't present in Android Auto on our Outback.
Anyway, plenty of other nice EVs to choose from.

 

[fsu23phd]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have had android auto and I now have a 2025 equinox EV with the google integration. I strongly prefer android auto for multiple reasons.

With android auto:
1) When picking up a friend of my daughter who sits in the back seat, I can just hand them my phone and say: Please enter your address. Boom, we are navigating.
2) I can plan a trip on my phone before leaving (i.e. waiting for my wife to "finish getting ready.") When we finally do get in the car, boom, we are navigating.
3) I won't have to worry about how I am going to navigate after 8 years. I guess I'll get a phone mount...

I know that with integrated google, it can tell you how much battery % you will have left when you arrive, precondition for fast charging, etc, but I simply don't care about these features. I slow charge for free at work 95% of the time, and a 2 minute precondition once or twice a year isn't a problem for me.

So I'm glad you are happy with what you have. That's all that matters. But this is a real concern for several people, and it is clear that GM is more interested in moving the needle closer to pay for subscription services than in the preferences of their customers.

 

[Nebula1701]

1) When picking up a friend of my daughter who sits in the back seat, I can just hand them my phone and say: Please enter your address. Boom, we are navigating.

They can text you the address and you can send it to the vehicle with a click of a button

2) I can plan a trip on my phone before leaving (i.e. waiting for my wife to "finish getting ready.") When we finally do get in the car, boom, we are navigating.

You can plan the trip on your phone and send it to the vehicle with a click of a button

3) I won't have to worry about how I am going to navigate after 8 years. I guess I'll get a phone mount...

Attach the vehicle to your Phones hotspot ta da you still have data and fully functioning apps!

 

[FuriousOne]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have had android auto and I now have a 2025 equinox EV with the google integration. I strongly prefer android auto for multiple reasons.

With android auto:
1) When picking up a friend of my daughter who sits in the back seat, I can just hand them my phone and say: Please enter your address. Boom, we are navigating.
2) I can plan a trip on my phone before leaving (i.e. waiting for my wife to "finish getting ready.") When we finally do get in the car, boom, we are navigating.
3) I won't have to worry about how I am going to navigate after 8 years. I guess I'll get a phone mount...

I know that with integrated google, it can tell you how much battery % you will have left when you arrive, precondition for fast charging, etc, but I simply don't care about these features. I slow charge for free at work 95% of the time, and a 2 minute precondition once or twice a year isn't a problem for me.

So I'm glad you are happy with what you have. That's all that matters. But this is a real concern for several people, and it is clear that GM is more interested in moving the needle closer to pay for subscription services than in the preferences of their customers.

Just one more note about point 1. You/friend can just say: "Hey Google, navigate to ...".

 

[Jim99]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have had android auto and I now have a 2025 equinox EV with the google integration. I strongly prefer android auto for multiple reasons.

With android auto:
1) When picking up a friend of my daughter who sits in the back seat, I can just hand them my phone and say: Please enter your address. Boom, we are navigating.
2) I can plan a trip on my phone before leaving (i.e. waiting for my wife to "finish getting ready.") When we finally do get in the car, boom, we are navigating.
3) I won't have to worry about how I am going to navigate after 8 years. I guess I'll get a phone mount...

I know that with integrated google, it can tell you how much battery % you will have left when you arrive, precondition for fast charging, etc, but I simply don't care about these features. I slow charge for free at work 95% of the time, and a 2 minute precondition once or twice a year isn't a problem for me.

So I'm glad you are happy with what you have. That's all that matters. But this is a real concern for several people, and it is clear that GM is more interested in moving the needle closer to pay for subscription services than in the preferences of their customers.

In addition what @Nebula1701 told you, addresses can be given in voice commands; such as “hey Google, navigate to 123 Main Street”. Try it out and let us know if that alleviates your concerns.

 

[MSD]

Ionic 5. A visitor got one as a rental, so I was able to enjoy it also. Hyundai's lane change assist is annoying as anything every mistakenly implemented on a car (seems to alert if someone has used that lane you're signaling for in the past 24 hours...) but that's the only negative I could identify. Outward visibility is infinitely better than the EQEV (obvs that's not a stretch; some caves have better outward visibility than EQEV), the dash is beautifully laid out with a good inclusion of buttons and knobs, the interior driving space is much more open without the useless center shelves, the materials were all very nice. With the large battery, range exceeds the EQEV, particularly AWD (which is necessary bc default is rear wheel drive?!), and it can charge from 10% to 90% in 18 min compared to about 40 for EQEV. EQEV head to head is less expensive as far as I could tell, but I could be wrong.

 

[Steverino]

Yes, the Ionic 5 is an overall nice car.

But the extra $10k for their version of a fully loaded Equinox EV was a non-starter. And the sales rep could not demo the voice command so we could see how well it worked and said we needed to buy the car if we wanted another test drive, lol.

The Equinox EV has more physical buttons.

 

[obermd]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have had android auto and I now have a 2025 equinox EV with the google integration. I strongly prefer android auto for multiple reasons.

With android auto:
1) When picking up a friend of my daughter who sits in the back seat, I can just hand them my phone and say: Please enter your address. Boom, we are navigating.
2) I can plan a trip on my phone before leaving (i.e. waiting for my wife to "finish getting ready.") When we finally do get in the car, boom, we are navigating.
3) I won't have to worry about how I am going to navigate after 8 years. I guess I'll get a phone mount...

I know that with integrated google, it can tell you how much battery % you will have left when you arrive, precondition for fast charging, etc, but I simply don't care about these features. I slow charge for free at work 95% of the time, and a 2 minute precondition once or twice a year isn't a problem for me.

So I'm glad you are happy with what you have. That's all that matters. But this is a real concern for several people, and it is clear that GM is more interested in moving the needle closer to pay for subscription services than in the preferences of their customers.

With Android Automotive, I can hand my phone to the back seat passenger and have them put the address into Google Maps on my phone and then send it to my Equinox EV. Now I'm navigating and not the back seat passenger. I do the same thing when preparing for a trip.

 

[Steverino]

In my experience, using Hey Google to enter a destination is way easier than me (or a passenger) typing it into a phone.

 

[obermd]

In my experience, using Hey Google to enter a destination is way easier than me (or a passenger) typing it into a phone.

Not always. I was trying to do a verbal routing from Estes Park, CO to Nederland, CO and it kept telling me I couldn't get to the Netherlands from Colorado - no roads.

 

[Steverino]

Not always. I was trying to do a verbal routing from Estes Park, CO to Nederland, CO and it kept telling me I couldn't get to the Netherlands from Colorado - no roads.

Spit out the chew tobacco and try again, Obermd?

Seriously, some words require careful enunciation. Even then, a dealer will think you are saying Bolt when you are saying Volt. Thanks Chevy Marketing, lol.

 

[MikeZ]

Not always. I was trying to do a verbal routing from Estes Park, CO to Nederland, CO and it kept telling me I couldn't get to the Netherlands from Colorado - no roads.

Just route it to Ward, and go another 10 miles or so.

 

[Andre YUL]

Google needs more dad joke replies.

When I say "call". It asks "Who do you want to call?". When I reply "Ghostbusters!", it does not have an answer 😉

 

[obermd]

Just route it to Ward, and go another 10 miles or so.

That didn't occur to me at the time. I wish it had. I was driving back from Estes Park to Golden and didn't want to deal with Boulder rush hour.

 

[Howdy]

After 6 months with the Eq EV, I agree that the Android Automotive system in the vehicle is superior to anything that could have been done with Android Auto or Carplay. All the apps I need and use in the car are there. The use of the screen size, knowing where charging stations are and conditioning battery automatically, integration of the car's settings and controls, integration with the instrument cluster. Even if you forget your phone or it is dead, everything still works as expected. These things were just not possible with traditional Android Auto or Carplay and GM made a wise choice.

That didn't occur to me at the time. I wish it had. I was driving back from Estes Park to Golden and didn't want to deal with Boulder rush hour.

It appears that you've never asked Google Assistant to navigate to [name of contact], whose complete address is part of the contact's information. Despite what Google's Gemini AI platform and other AI resources say, this basic iPhone feature does not work in Google Built-In.

When I say, "Hey, Google, navigate to [name of contact]," I get various, random responses:

1. "Hmm, can't find that"
2. “Hmmm, I can’t seem to find that. To where?”
3. "It looks like there is no connection and I can’t find • [name of contact] in your downloaded map."
4. " I can’t find [name of contact]. What address do you want to navigate to?
5. "I’m not sure where to find [name of contact]. Where to?"
6. "Sorry, that action is not supported by this navigation app at this time.

My two favorites are:

• When I ask Google Assistant to navigate to Kevin Doyle (a name in my contacts –with an address), it responds with: Where do you want to navigate to? When I repeat the name (Kevin Doyle), Google Assistant responds with: "According to Wikipedia, Kevin Doyle is an English actor…" and continues with a lengthy dialogue about this person.
• When I ask Google Assistant to navigate to a particular name in my contacts, such as Larry Jones (a personal contact with only his name, street address, and city/state/zip), Google Assistant responds with "OK, navigating to Larry Jones, Attorney at Law…" with an address that is hundreds of miles away from Larry's address in my contacts.

 

[Nebula1701]

make sure in settings>Google Assistant you have turned everything on.