Ok, I'm saying it - the infotainment system sucks (but who cares)

[Nova]

GPS may be a map licensing issue, and DAB may be a regulatory compliance/certification issue. The AUS market for Lotus may have been too small for them to make these types of investments?

I guess with Android Auto, I wouldn't miss the GPS so much, but I would be a bit annoyed if we didn't get HD Radio. There are some good local stations I'd like to be able to listen to in higher quality.

 

[JimH]

GPS may be a map licensing issue, and DAB may be a regulatory compliance/certification issue. The AUS market for Lotus may have been too small for them to make these types of investments?

I guess with Android Auto, I wouldn't miss the GPS so much, but I would be a bit annoyed if we didn't get HD Radio. There are some good local stations I'd like to be able to listen to in higher quality.

As above - and I doubt very much that the hardware is any different so there's always the the potential for a future software upgrade....

 

[Hethel Merman]

You’re comparing a Kia to a lotus… it’s like saying “well my Miata has more luggage room than my Ferrari and a lotus costs way more!”

Kia did build Lotus Elans for a while.

 

[virtualmacho]

I think you're overthinking it. The cars surely had DAB and satnav functions when they left the Hethel factory. They just fell out when you turned the cars upside down.

BTW, we don't have DAB in Japan. What are its merits compared to traditional AM/FM broadcasts?

 

[Johnson]

BTW, we don't have DAB in Japan. What are its merits compared to traditional AM/FM broadcasts?

Australian cars don’t come with DAB either (which is odd, as my cheap Isuzu ute has it). Digital radio is the same as digital tv — usually an all-or-nothing signal, so when it works it’s ‘perfect‘ reception. There might be some frequency advantages as well, but I’d have to Wiki it.

I use a digital radio app on my iPhone and play it through Apple CarPlay. Seems pretty reliable.

 

[BarryH]

You’re comparing a Kia to a lotus… it’s like saying “well my Miata has more luggage room than my Ferrari and a lotus costs way more!”

No we are not comparing the Lotus to a Kia! Only that these come with these functions, while in the Australian Spec Emira these have actively been removed (even the Oz data is readily available so that is not an excuse). It is one thing to not have the functionality at all in the model because it had never been developed. In that case, it is taken into account as part of the buying decision and it is then a customer choice (and Kia etc aside, the competitors in the same bracket have these features as well).
The issue here is that the features were developed for the car and the customer was shown examples of the car with these features (plus the available documentation indicated it as well). The features were then removed after the fact, with no explanation or communication with the customer.

 

[BarryH]

Australian cars don’t come with DAB either (which is odd, as my cheap Isuzu ute has it). Digital radio is the same as digital tv — usually an all-or-nothing signal, so when it works it’s ‘perfect‘ reception. There might be some frequency advantages as well, but I’d have to Wiki it.

I use a digital radio app on my iPhone and play it through Apple CarPlay. Seems pretty reliable.

DAB is becoming more widely available here in Sydney and the fact that the car has it physically available as a feature, and importantly it was presented as a feature in the sales material (as was the GPS) makes it removal bizarre.

 

[BarryH]

GPS may be a map licensing issue, and DAB may be a regulatory compliance/certification issue. The AUS market for Lotus may have been too small for them to make these types of investments?

I guess with Android Auto, I wouldn't miss the GPS so much, but I would be a bit annoyed if we didn't get HD Radio. There are some good local stations I'd like to be able to listen to in higher quality.

DAB is readily available here so difficult to understand why, when other low volume sales cars have it (and budget cars), they removed it. Unless they are using very old DAB hardware (ie not DAB+) then it would be compatible here.

From a GPS data perspective, Geospatial data is made available by the government here, so even that is hard to understand.

There are a number of reasons I don't want to use Android Auto (including it cooks my phone) and native GPS was actually part of my buying comparison process.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

You’re comparing a Kia to a lotus… it’s like saying “well my Miata has more luggage room than my Ferrari and a lotus costs way more!”

Totally flawed analogy because DAB and GPS are available on the Emira everywhere else in the world. We're talking about software settings not luggage space. Lotus simply failed to include Australia/NZ in the licensing arrangement for the software and didn't bother to warn their customers or the local dealers.

 

[Steve24]

Totally flawed analogy because DAB and GPS are available on the Emira everywhere else in the world. We're talking about software settings not luggage space. Lotus simply failed to include Australia/NZ in the licensing arrangement for the software and didn't bother to warn their customers or the local dealers.

Agree 100%. It is extraordinary that my $20k Golf has GPS but my $200k Lotus doesn’t.
Carplay works quite well so it’s not the end of the world but I don’t understand the reasoning, especially as you say it was supposed to come on the car and everywhere else in the world has it.

 

[Tom's Emira]

Hm, actually the infotainment works with android absolutely perfect in my car. I have nothing to complain. The sound of the KEF is very good...

 

[Porter]

While I can't complain about the quality of sound coming from the KEFs there has been a number of changes to the Infotainment features - ie they have simply been removed from the Australian Spec.

Without going into details of the somewhat astounding responses by the HQ team, I'd be interested to hear from the folks who have got their cars In the Middle East & Asia as to what functionality has been removed from the car and were you explicitly told this was the case prior to signing up for the car?

We have attempted to have a discussion with Hethel on the unannounced removal of functionality (even after I had placed the order), without much success, and hence before having a broader rant (and explaining the greater issue), it would be good to understand what other markets have or have not received in their cars infotainment (eg. DAB, GPS). To be honest, the responses from HQ have been slightly bizarre (when we have got them) and even bordered on arrogance (or at least a disconnection with their "new" expanded customer base)

Hang on a minute. You're saying that Australian Emira customers simply don't have GPS mapping or nav on their cars AT ALL? What happens when you go to the map feature on the main/center screen? It's blank? Button missing to use it at all?

This absolutely boggles the mind. It needs its own thread.

@BarryH if the above is accurate, can you start a separate thread so that the whole community here can discuss? It's a huge gap in basic vehicle function and a huge deviation from the published vehicle spec.

@TomE putting this on your radar, in case you hadn't seen it yet.

 

[Steve24]

Hang on a minute. You're saying that Australian Emira customers simply don't have GPS mapping or nav on their cars AT ALL? What happens when you go to the map feature on the main/center screen? It's blank? Button missing to use it at all?

This absolutely boggles the mind. It needs its own thread.

@BarryH if the above is accurate, can you start a separate thread so that the whole community here can discuss? It's a huge gap in basic vehicle function and a huge deviation from the published vehicle spec.

@TomE putting this on your radar, in case you hadn't seen it yet.

Yes. That is exactly what we’re saying.

There is no GPS function on Australian delivered cars, despite being told when we ordered the car that it would be there.

Someone may have to post a pic of where the nav button is on other cars but where I believe it is is just a blank space on ours.

 

[Tom's Emira]

Yes. That is exactly what we’re saying.

There is no GPS function on Australian delivered cars, despite being told when we ordered the car that it would be there.

Someone may have to post a pic of where the nav button is on other cars but where I believe it is is just a blank space on ours.

Well, I don't understand the reason not delivering navigation in Emira infotainment in Australia. But to tell you the truth, I never use it, just using android auto with Google maps navigation (which is much more useful than any other included navigation). And Android or Apple car play can be installed in Australian cars, correct?

 

[Robbierob]

Hm, actually the infotainment works with android absolutely perfect in my car. I have nothing to complain. The sound of the KEF is very good...

Same here: DAB, GPS, Apple Car Play (also wireless) are working very well without any problems. Also the sound quality of the KEF system is very nice, as soon you have good music source like USB, Apple Car Play or DAB

 

[Steve24]

Well, I don't understand the reason not delivering navigation in Emira infotainment in Australia. But to tell you the truth, I never use it, just using android auto with Google maps navigation (which is much more useful than any other included navigation). And Android or Apple car play can be installed in Australian cars, correct?

I agree, and as I said before I use CarPlay and it works well.

That doesn’t change the fact that we were told the car would have navigation and DAB radio, and cars going to the rest of the world have these features so it’s more than a little crap that our cars have simply had them “turned off” for want of a better description.

When you then consider what we pay for the Emira here (equivalent to re US$140k or GBP110k) it makes it even worse.

 

[Porter]

Well, I don't understand the reason not delivering navigation in Emira infotainment in Australia. But to tell you the truth, I never use it, just using android auto with Google maps navigation (which is much more useful than any other included navigation). And Android or Apple car play can be installed in Australian cars, correct?

The integrated system is Android Automotive. The way it's architected, OEMs are supposed to be able to enable a "Google Maps equivalent" experience but with a stored base map and custom skin/theme that matches the car's menu design.

This is supposed to be the best of both worlds... an integrated experience that doesn't require a phone at all, but if there's an internet connection it's supposed to enable modern Google-sourced live POI information and fully active traffic-aware nav/routing.

I personally prefer that strongly over a phone-dependent scenario, but it has to be set up to work properly. Including data service to the car, ideally with a carrier and SIM card of your choice.

 

[BarryH]

The integrated system is Android Automotive. The way it's architected, OEMs are supposed to be able to enable a "Google Maps equivalent" experience but with a stored base map and custom skin/theme that matches the car's menu design.

This is supposed to be the best of both worlds... an integrated experience that doesn't require a phone at all, but if there's an internet connection it's supposed to enable modern Google-sourced live POI information and fully active traffic-aware nav/routing.

I personally prefer that strongly over a phone-dependent scenario, but it has to be set up to work properly. Including data service to the car, ideally with a carrier and SIM card of your choice.

I actually raised the Android Automotive angle with the local dealer and to their credit they took it up the chain. LOTUS HQ came back and stated that it would cost to much to re-contract and have it put back in (and passed the buck to Android Auto).

Virtually everyone so far on the forum that has made reference to Screen mirroring has said that "carPlay" has been working fine. Given that carPlay uses WiFi for the connection the BlueTooth issue would be unlikely to show up and hence it would be good to understand the breakdown

Do you use (1) CarPlay or (2) Android Auto


Unfortunately the documentation on the car's use of CarPlay/Android Auto is woefully small (read non-existent), so I don't know how much is actually possible, hidden behind a bad UX, or how much is what I would consider as software bugs (bad UX is still considered a bug).

• The Android Auto implementation appears to have no way to actually have it on demand rather than all the time. That is, Disabling Wireless AA (so as to only use the cable attachment) is actually turning off the Bluetooth itself off, so I no longer can link the phone independently. Turn Bluetooth back on via the connections option and AA comes back on again (no separation of connection).
  • Hence even if not actively using AA it has been draining the battery on the phone (connecting regardless)
• While Google removed the ability to "turn off" Android Auto in their own UI a few years back, that capability is passed to the OEM (ie car manufacturers) to implement. The options for AA activation being "Always", "As per last trip", "Per the Car". In this case the bespoke infotainment went for the "Per the car" = "always", so there is no way to actually turn it off without effectively disabling AA completely (so no only when plugged into a cable)

As an aside,

• The native navigation system is still acknowledged in the driver binnacle and sits there spinning wheels trying to activate the maps (at least the icon was removed from the main screen)

 

[Porter]

I actually raised the Android Automotive angle with the local dealer and to their credit they took it up the chain. LOTUS HQ came back and stated that it would cost to much to re-contract and have it put back in (and passed the buck to Android Auto).

Virtually everyone so far on the forum that has made reference to Screen mirroring has said that "carPlay" has been working fine. Given that carPlay uses WiFi for the connection the BlueTooth issue would be unlikely to show up and hence it would be good to understand the breakdown

Do you use (1) CarPlay or (2) Android Auto


Unfortunately the documentation on the car's use of CarPlay/Android Auto is woefully small (read non-existent), so I don't know how much is actually possible, hidden behind a bad UX, or how much is what I would consider as software bugs (bad UX is still considered a bug).

• The Android Auto implementation appears to have no way to actually have it on demand rather than all the time. That is, Disabling Wireless AA (so as to only use the cable attachment) is actually turning off the Bluetooth itself off, so I no longer can link the phone independently. Turn Bluetooth back on via the connections option and AA comes back on again (no separation of connection).
  • Hence even if not actively using AA it has been draining the battery on the phone (connecting regardless)
• While Google removed the ability to "turn off" Android Auto in their own UI a few years back, that capability is passed to the OEM (ie car manufacturers) to implement. The options for AA activation being "Always", "As per last trip", "Per the Car". In this case the bespoke infotainment went for the "Per the car" = "always", so there is no way to actually turn it off without effectively disabling AA completely (so no only when plugged into a cable)

As an aside,

• The native navigation system is still acknowledged in the driver binnacle and sits there spinning wheels trying to activate the maps (at least the icon was removed from the main screen)

I believe you can change the behavior on the phone to disable wireless AA. At least I'm able to on my Pixel. It might be in the developer menu, I can't remember now.

 

[Porter]

I believe you can change the behavior on the phone to disable wireless AA. At least I'm able to on my Pixel. It might be in the developer menu, I can't remember now.

Here you go @BarryH

How to enable developer mode in Android Auto, and why you might want to

Just like for an Android device, Android Auto allows you to enable developer mode to get access to setting you...

9to5google.com

It's in the developer menu in the Android Auto app on the phone. Once you enable the developer mode by following the above guide, the link to actually get into the developer mode menu will be in the three-dot menu on the upper right corner of the app.

You can disable wireless Android Auto entirely, but still retain wired Android Auto functionality that works just as you expect. Including normal Bluetooth function.