Infotainment Hack?

[idris]

Has anyone heard of a way to flash the infotainment system and get some customizations? Seems like there should be a way to do this with an SD card.

Also, I hear VW is going to start supporting Apple's CarPlay in their 2016 cars.. but it'd be awesome to be able to software update the 2015 eGolf. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

 

[svento]

Where did you hear about VW CarPlay support in 2016? I haven't seen this. Even Apple's CarPlay site specifically does not list VW. (I'm particularly interested because this would be my dream... and since I have a 2015 I would love an update, but I strongly suspect they will just use the new feature to sell 2016s).

 

[idris]

I guess CarPlay support isn't official yet, but here's the article I was referencing: http://9to5mac.com/2014/07/15/volkswagen-in-talks-with-apple-to-bring-carplay-to-future-vehicles/

 

[svento]

In case you didn't see the announcement today:

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/05/apples-carplay-coming-to-volkswagen-models-later-this-year
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/volkswagen-mirrorlink-infotainment-at-ces-2015/
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7496835/carplay-and-android-auto-will-be-in-volkswagen-cars-this-year-ces-2015

It sounds like CarPlay will be supported with MIB II (I am pretty sure the 2015 e-Golf is MIB). I suppose a tiny bit of good news is the form factor looks identical, so maybe it would be an easy (albeit probably expensive) hardware swap? We'll find out later this year.

 

[idris]

Wow, looks like a lot of awesome features being added.. I wonder if this is for 2016 or later.

• Self-parallel parking
• Inductive charging (I wonder how long that takes)
• CarPlay / Android Auto
• Auto-parking in driveway/garage (this is convenient, given I need to back in so the charger is on the correct side)

http://media.vw.com/release/908/

It does seem like some features should be available via software update, like the LED lights changing based on charge amount. That said, I guess most companies doesn't do software updates like Tesla.