The Polestar 2 is an important car. While it’s the first legitimate competitor to Tesla’s wildly successful Model 3, it’s also the debut red for Google’s Android Automotive, an infotainment system in cars designed to control everything from navigation and music to your air conditioning and traction settings. Google’s confidence in building such a platform may sound sly if you are unfamiliar with the space for cars, but if you are, you know that motorists have been using Android for years, generally without the blessing of Google (and perhaps ridiculously old versions of the platform). After a day with the Polestar 2 in the winding hills of Northern California, I can tell you with confidence that the collaboration of Google Polestar has helped build a smarter car.
Google’s collaboration has helped Polestar build a smarter car.
When you take delivery of a Polestar 2, one of the first things you’ll probably want to do is link it to your Google Account, just like you would a smartphone (worth it: this is 100% optional). Controlled by a large, center-mounted vertical touchscreen, the Polestar 2 actually has no buttons outside of those you’ll find on the steering wheel – a definite Tesla call, enabled by the large array of controls that Polestar entrusts to Android Automotive.
The onboarding process for Android Automotive.
The experience here had me actually a little envious because it’s a little clunky. In the car, go to the settings menu where accounts are added, and add a new Google account. It looks like the Polestar 2 can only be associated with one Google account at a time, because I removed the demo fleet from the press fleet to create my own setup (I can understand that there privacy issues with multiple accounts, though). From that point on, the Polestar 2 displays a one-time URL that you have to manually navigate to your phone. This part surprises me because it seems a bit spicy – why not use a QR code or just ask to type your email address on the car display and use the phone as an authenticator? (For the sake of clarity, I asked Google if this would be the final login experience that actually sends.) From there, you confirm two codes displayed on the phone and your car agreement, and you are required to enter your Google password. account on the phone. At that point, you are off to the races.
While apps are a banner feature, you will probably never see Netflix or YouTube on Android Automotive.
The next thing you naturally do is set up some apps. The Polestar 2 has, as you may have heard, the Google Play Store – released, with probably not even a dozen compatible apps yet to be downloaded (current media standouts include Spotify, Pocket Casts, and YouTube Music). I used YouTube Music on my drive, and the setup was simple, with the app just confirming which of my associated YouTube accounts I wanted to use at first launch. Third-party apps like Spotify and Pocket Casts, I’m told, use a relatively similar method to the Google Account procedure I described above. At the moment, the YouTube Music app in Automotive feels like an extended, vertical version of the Android Auto experience, which is entertaining, if not something special. While apps are a banner feature, you will probably never see Netflix or YouTube on Android Automotive, and I doubt you will ever get anything “fun” like the Tesla Arcade. Safety is something Polestar and its parent brand Volvo take very seriously, and I think Google has taken a similar key with Android Automotive. So, do not bet on binging Stranger Things in your Polestar while sitting in the interminable drive-to-line at In-N-Out.
The UI is distinctly Volvo, but when you open an app like Maps, things feel very Android.
The interface for Android Automotive is a mix of Google and Polestar (Volvo), depending on exactly where you look. This software does not feel like what Google has built until you get to the actual Googly bits (Maps, Play Store, Assistant, YouTube Music, etc.). Climate control, car settings, the profile selector and the activity starter are all very square, dark and easily parsed interfaces that you expect from a modern luxury car – they look great Volvo-y. In these places, Google is for the most part out of the way, visually; it is only the framework that Polestar has built the interface, and not much more. But when you open Google Maps, it feels like you’re working from a giant Android tablet, and it’s instantly known. I think this is the true beauty of Automotive: Google can finally bring the experience of using a fully customized smartphone app to the car, and that app can be updated and optimized to make this experience better over time (allowed , Google should actually, you know, do this). Like those apps, the entire Automotive OS, and much of the car’s own firmware, can be updated over the air, indicating to Polestar that it intends to take serious advantage.
When you have Google Maps open, it feels like you’re working from a giant Android tablet.
The Google Assistant is the true “killer app” for Android Automotive, though. When you bake in the car, it enables decent voice control for car functions such as cable temperature, music playing, navigation and smart home appliances such as your garage door. The voice commands work much like you would have thought if you ever used a Google Home. Just say “OK / Hey Google,” and ask away. I have a short little demo video of the assistant, which you can check out below to get a feel for the experience.
The assistant generally feels fast and responsive in the Polestar 2, although the situation with the voice processing remains a bit fuzzy for me. Polestar says that some voice commands to be able to work offline, but it is not clear if they mean that all commands are processed locally, but those that require a data connection will not complete, or any more nuanced. Given what can be as puny as a Pixel 4a can handle with voice commands on device no problem, I do not see how hardware can be a limitation here. Still, as long as you are connected to LTE (the Polestar 2 comes with 3 years of AT&T data), the commands are a breeze. Set the cabin temperature, turn on the air circulation, turn down the volume, turn on the lounges, ask where it’s closest, what the weather is like in Pebble Beach, or how much range you have left; all via voice.
There are still many limitations to the capabilities of the assistant in the car.
I asked Google and Polestar for a complete list of commands specifically for the car itself, but know that there are still many limitations to the capabilities of the assistant in the car, both of which are a result of the experience that is still fairly new, as well as the simple fact that the assistant cannot touch certain things. For example, while driving mode and settings for things like steering weight and regenerative braking can be controlled in the Automotive UI on the center stack screen, the assistant cannot adjust these things. This, I think, is a bit of a long-running automaker “church and state” at play: no OEM red will feel comfortable with third-party commands that can change the actual driving behavior of a car, which is understandable. “OK Google, set cruise control to 70MPH” will therefore probably never be in the cards for Automotive. Other less sensitive settings like adjusting treble and bass, or basically any secondary stereo function that is not volume like next / previous track, are simply not supported.
YouTube Music on Android Automotive
Another feature that I did not currently find any apparent evidence of in the assistant experience is speech matching, although it is possible that it was active and I just missed it, or Google does not tell you about it in ‘ e setup stream. Without a voice match, theoretically a passenger in your car could potentially check your smart home devices, access personal contextual information through the Assistant such as family roles, home / work locations, or use tools like my phone find (I have not tested this, and know not if it works). I have asked Google and Polestar for details on this, and will update this post as and when I get official word back.
Assistant, apps like Google Maps, and the Play Store are what give the true picture of Google’s aspirations for cars.
I noticed one Google integration in the car that lived firmly outside the Automotive OS, in the form of the Polestar 2 instrument cluster. This digital cluster, like the one on most cars, runs on a separate OS that is required for instrumental readings of matters such as the speedometer, energy consumption and other vehicle metrics that are reported live to the driver. It has an in-cluster version of Google Maps, not unlike what you would get on a modern, high-end VW Group product like Audi. This Maps copy does not run on Automotive, and that to me is an illustration of the deeper collaboration that Google needs to build something like Automotive in collaboration with an automaker. It also makes me envious of what Automotive “v2.0” looks like. How far will car companies get Google’s foot in the door? With Automotive as implemented on the Polestar 2, the answer is already “pretty far”, but this OS is still, in essence, a canvas. Assistant, apps like Google Maps, and the Play Store are what paint the true picture of Google’s aspirations in the car, and I do not think they’ve just finished this portrait yet.
This is not Android Automotive in the instrument cluster of Polestar 2 – but it has Google Maps.
The possibilities for the future here are almost endless. And that’s exciting to think about. Even in this first generation, Google and Polestar have accomplished what many in the automotive industry even a decade ago would have described as foolish. A fully updated car operating system with an app store, and a native, cloud-connected voice assistant to control car functions? This was the vision that Tesla had so early on, and which has been instrumental in its success to this day. I will not go into detail against that experience because I just am not familiar enough with it. But I can tell you that the Polestar 2 feels like the future in the way a Tesla does. It’s a car that can legitimize – and I’m sure will – get worse over time. Such a premise can be made by a vanishingly short list of cars on the road today. That makes the Polestar 2 worth noting. It also bodes well for the future of cars in general, because although Automotive will debut on a $ 60,000 EV, we already know it’s on its way to more mainstream platforms. Based on my experience with it, that might just be a good thing.
