The Polestar 2 is the first car to use Google's new Android Automotive OS infotainment system.

It comes with many Google apps and features as standard, such as Google Maps and Google Assistant.

The Polestar 2 is the second car from Volvo's new electrified performance brand and is a rival for the Tesla Model 3.

The Polestar 2 is a fairly ambitious project. Aimed squarely at the Tesla Model 3, it's the first serious production car from Volvo's new electrified performance brand (the Polestar 1 is an expensive, limited-run, plug-in-hybrid model), so it has a lot to prove. We already knew nearly all of the important details about the 2 such as pricing, range, battery size, and options. But now we've taken a good look at the 2's brand-new, Google-developed infotainment system, which is called Android Automotive OS. The 2, which is available to order now ahead of deliveries next summer, is the first production car to use it. The 2 made its North American debut in San Francisco, California, last week, and we were there to get a hands-on look at the car and its new infotainment system.

View Photos Polestar

A Familiar Feel

Before we get into the infotainment, a bit about the 2's interior appearance. The overall design is very Volvo, with lots of wood and gloss-black trim, a wide dash, and a tall, sparse center console. Buttons are kept to an absolute minimum, with nearly all of the car's controls located in the 11.0-inch central touchscreen. That screen is augmented by a volume knob, buttons for the windshield, hatchback glass heaters . . . and that's it. The steering wheel has some buttons, but they are mostly for controlling the adaptive cruise control, audio system, and digital gauge cluster.

If you have used an Android phone before or even used Google apps on an iPhone, the appearance and functionality of the Polestar 2's system will feel immediately familiar. It looks super crisp, clean, and simple, and that's partly thanks to Polestar's designers. While Google developed all of the functionalities and a basic design template, automakers that adopt the system will be able to reskin it for their needs, and that's what Polestar has done. An emphasis was placed on having an uncluttered design with large buttons, minimizing distractions and increasing usability while driving. (If you want to experience it yourself, Polestar and Google developed a web page that mimics the car's operating system; it's best used on a phone or a tablet.)

View Photos Polestar

The home screen consists of four "cards" that access the main apps. In the car we experienced, it was set to show Google Maps, phone, audio (in this case Spotify), and driving data, but the cards are customizable based on a few main themes. The top of the screen has a row of four icons for the camera system, car settings (driving modes, lighting, driver-assist systems, etc.), driver profiles, and the full list of apps. Swiping down from the top of the screen brings up notifications and some additional settings menus. The bottom of the screen has some icons for quick access to seat heaters and the climate temperature, and swiping up from the bottom brings up the full climate-control menu. As a whole, the system is fairly similar to Volvo's existing Sensus setup, but the Polestar's UI both looks and feels more modern—and it works a lot better.

Integrated Google Apps

The integration of Google Maps as the car's sole navigation system is a smart move. Everyone is used to using a maps app on their phones, sometimes even wholly in place of a car's own navigation system. Maps on the 2 has real-time traffic info, points of interest and suggested destinations, and everything else you'd expect from Google Maps on a phone or desktop. It looks even better than it does on a phone, with high-resolution renderings and more detailed displays, and it's very quick to respond. The Android Automotive OS's iteration of Maps has been specifically designed with electric cars in mind, too. When you are entering a destination, it shows the car's current charge level and the expected charge level for when you arrive. It will also help you plan on when to charge, showing charging stations that are along the way and giving you an estimated time for the stop, even telling you how many open chargers are at each station. Haris Ramic, the product lead for Android Automotive OS, said that the new system "deletes the step" of looking something up on your phone before inputting it into your car. "I'm not reaching for my phone for anything anymore. This is what I have been wanting."

View Photos Polestar

With the premiere of Android Automotive OS, the Polestar 2 also becomes the first car to have integrated Google Assistant capabilities. Saying "Ok, Google," can activate a huge number of commands, from audio functions to navigation to app features to climate controls and more. Polestar says that voice commands are "a safety innovation," because it lets the driver focus more on, you know, driving. In the demos we experienced, the Assistant worked pretty well, responding quickly to a wide range of prompts; there were a few times it misheard the Google employee showing off the car, but everything we saw was still in prototype stages.

Android Automotive Opened to Developers

Google also is making a major announcement at its yearly I/O conference this week: it will be opening the Android Automotive OS up to developers, allowing for the creation of third-party apps—like what is already possible with the Android smartphone OS. This will be for "media experiences" at first, such as apps for music and podcasts, and the apps will be downloadable through the Google Play store. Ramic says they're starting with media because the basic Android Auto system is already opened up for media-app development, so it's familiar to developers. And in the future, Google will begin offering third-party development for other kinds of apps beyond media.

View Photos Polestar

Beyond all of the OS's main apps and features, there are a couple of other things to note. Software updates will be done over the air, with the car able to schedule such updates at night or during long charges. And if you don't have an Android phone, don't fret: the 2 will also have Apple CarPlay capability (although we didn't get to test it), and both Apple and Android phones can connect to the car wirelessly. You won't need a Google account to be able to use the 2's infotainment, although some of the features will be pared back if you're not logged in. And most of the system's apps, like Maps, will still be usable even without a data connection.

In addition to the main 11.0-inch touchscreen, the Android experience is tied to the 2's 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. Just as minimalist in design as the main screen, the display shows different amounts of information depending on the driving mode and the in-use apps. If nav is active, the map takes up the majority of the display; in regular driving, speed and charge level are more prominent. There isn't really anything groundbreaking about the screen, but its design and functionality integrates with the infotainment system better than other cars, creating a more cohesive experience.

View Photos Polestar

Breaking with Tradition

Keeping with the heavily phone-inspired tech theme, the 2 doesn't have a traditional key fob. Instead, your phone will be the key. (There will be a small physical fob for valet use or emergencies.) Bluetooth sensors at each corner of the car makes it easier to sense the driver upon approach, and Polestar worked hard to make a more precise, smaller five-foot perimeter around the car in which the "key" will work. The main driver can pass off the key functionality to others, say a teenage kid or a spouse, allowing them to access and drive the car—this function was, of course, also developed with car sharing in mind. Oh, and if you've been wondering how you start the car, your butt does it. Seriously. Sensors in the driver's seat detect when an adult human is sitting in it, and the car then starts. Just press on the shifter and go.

View Photos Polestar

Ramic said that the new OS is "a major milestone in the automotive industry," and after our hands-on experience with the 2 and its Android operating system, we came away very impressed. The system looks excellent, works very well even in this prototype stage, and has the promise of constantly improving over time. It also has the potential to be revolutionary for the car industry, as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto already have been. So many modern infotainment systems are still, frankly, terrible compared to what's already on your phone, and Polestar's CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, has previously admitted that. "Let's stop the bullshit," he has said, "We acknowledge that we will always run behind, so we should simply use what is the best system and put it into our car."

Ceding the development of infotainment systems over to companies like Google will allow for more focus to be put on the cars from the automakers, as well as better overall better experiences from the tech companies—and with Google coming up with the modifiable framework, each car company can still redesign and reengineer the system to suit its individual needs. Now that we've tried it out and seen what Polestar does with it, we're eager to see what other brands start doing with the OS. In the case of some car companies, anything is better than the tech they already have.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io