Smartphone mirroring applications Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard on almost every new car sold in Australia, but the Leapmotor C10 will be one of the few vehicles without them.
While the Leapmotor C10’s infotainment system includes an application store so owners can download certain programs such as Spotify – as in the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 – it doesn’t have the ability to mirror a user’s smartphone to its 14.6-inch touchscreen.
“Leapmotor vehicles do not come with CarPlay or Android Auto. The infotainment system allows seamless Bluetooth connection to your smartphone, enabling you to play multimedia content directly from your phone,” a spokesperson for the brand told CarExpert.
“Additionally, the in-car system features a built-in online navigation service and an App Store, offering a range of native apps for a comprehensive driving experience.”
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This means C10 owners are limited to using their phones for Bluetooth and remote services, such as vehicle location and climate control adjustments.
Navigation will be limited to Leapmotor’s native system, rather than popular alternatives such as Google Maps and Waze.
It’s understood the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is due to the C10’s internal processors lacking the required chips to run the mirroring software.
Though the C10 is set to get the two smartphone mirroring features at a later date, they aren’t expected to be available to existing owners as a retrofit as the change is hardware-based and not software-based.
The Chinese-market Leapmotor C10’s infotainment system
Other vehicles launched in Australia without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto include the BYD Atto 3, which had to wait a few weeks to receive the features – though they were both added via an over-the-air update that could be performed by owners at home.
Likewise, the recently launched Volvo EX30 also rolled out into showrooms without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, however it uses an Android Automotive-based infotainment system that can run most of the same applications as the smartphones.
As previously mentioned, the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 – Australia’s two best-selling electric vehicles (EV) – both omit Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from their features list globally.
While they go without an Android Automotive infotainment system, Tesla’s EVs can run almost all of the same music streaming and navigation applications as smartphones.
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