diff --git a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/common/src/VehicleHalManager.cpp b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/common/src/VehicleHalManager.cpp
index 4249a61..4f42e63 100644
--- a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/common/src/VehicleHalManager.cpp
+++ b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/common/src/VehicleHalManager.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 
 #include <hwbinder/IPCThreadState.h>
 
+#include <utils/SystemClock.h>
+
 #include "VehicleUtils.h"
 
 // TODO: figure out how to include private/android_filesystem_config.h instead...
@@ -247,10 +249,11 @@
     dprintf(fd, "--get <PROP1> [PROP2] [PROPN]: dumps the value of specific properties \n");
     // TODO: support other formats (int64, float, bytes)
     dprintf(fd,
-            "--set <PROP> <i|s> <VALUE_1> [<i|s> <VALUE_N>]: sets the value of property PROP, using"
-            " arbitrary number of key/value parameters (i for int32, s for string). Notice that "
-            "the string value can be set just once, while the other can have multiple values "
-            "(so they're used in the respective array)\n");
+            "--set <PROP> <i|s> <VALUE_1> [<i|s> <VALUE_N>] [a AREA_ID] : sets the value of "
+            "property PROP, using arbitrary number of key/value parameters (i for int32, "
+            "s for string) and an optional area.\n"
+            "Notice that the string value can be set just once, while the other can have multiple "
+            "values (so they're used in the respective array)\n");
 }
 
 void VehicleHalManager::cmdListAllProperties(int fd) const {
@@ -352,13 +355,13 @@
 
     VehiclePropValue prop;
     if (!safelyParseInt(fd, 1, options[1], &prop.prop)) return;
-    prop.timestamp = 0;
-    prop.areaId = 0;  // TODO: add option to pass areaId as parameter
+    prop.timestamp = elapsedRealtimeNano();
     prop.status = VehiclePropertyStatus::AVAILABLE;
 
-    // First pass calculate sizes
+    // First pass: calculate sizes
     int sizeInt32 = 0;
     int stringIndex = 0;
+    int areaIndex = 0;
     for (int i = 2, kv = 1; kv <= numberValues; kv++) {
         // iterate through the kv=1..n key/value pairs, accessing indexes i / i+1 at each step
         std::string type = options[i];
@@ -374,6 +377,15 @@
                 return;
             }
             stringIndex = i;
+        } else if (EqualsIgnoreCase(type, "a")) {
+            if (areaIndex != 0) {
+                dprintf(fd,
+                        "defining area value (%s) again at index %d (already defined at %d=%s"
+                        ")\n",
+                        value.c_str(), i, areaIndex, options[areaIndex + 1].c_str());
+                return;
+            }
+            areaIndex = i;
         } else {
             dprintf(fd, "invalid (%s) type at index %d\n", type.c_str(), i);
             return;
@@ -395,6 +407,8 @@
             prop.value.int32Values[indexInt32++] = safeInt;
         } else if (EqualsIgnoreCase(type, "s")) {
             prop.value.stringValue = value;
+        } else if (EqualsIgnoreCase(type, "a")) {
+            if (!safelyParseInt(fd, valueIndex, value, &prop.areaId)) return;
         }
         i += 2;
     }
diff --git a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/DefaultConfig.h b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/DefaultConfig.h
index e19987c..785f0e0 100644
--- a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/DefaultConfig.h
+++ b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/DefaultConfig.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
 constexpr int WHEEL_FRONT_RIGHT = (int)VehicleAreaWheel::RIGHT_FRONT;
 constexpr int WHEEL_REAR_LEFT = (int)VehicleAreaWheel::LEFT_REAR;
 constexpr int WHEEL_REAR_RIGHT = (int)VehicleAreaWheel::RIGHT_REAR;
+constexpr int INITIAL_USER_INFO = (int)VehicleProperty::INITIAL_USER_INFO;
 
 /**
  * This property is used for test purpose to generate fake events. Here is the test package that
@@ -990,6 +991,16 @@
                                   (int)VehicleVendorPermission::PERMISSION_DEFAULT},
                  },
          .initialValue = {.int32Values = {1}}},
+
+        {
+                .config =
+                        {
+                                .prop = toInt(VehicleProperty::INITIAL_USER_INFO),
+                                .access = VehiclePropertyAccess::READ_WRITE,
+                                .changeMode = VehiclePropertyChangeMode::ON_CHANGE,
+                        },
+        },
+
 };
 
 }  // impl
diff --git a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.cpp b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.cpp
index d9867bd..197c6db 100644
--- a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.cpp
+++ b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
+
+#define LOG_TAG "automotive.vehicle@2.0-connector"
+
 #include <android-base/logging.h>
 #include <utils/SystemClock.h>
 
@@ -261,6 +264,8 @@
                     break;
             }
             break;
+        case INITIAL_USER_INFO:
+            return onSetInitialUserInfo(value, updateStatus);
         default:
             break;
     }
@@ -274,6 +279,97 @@
     return StatusCode::OK;
 }
 
+/**
+ * INITIAL_USER_INFO is called by Android when it starts, and it's expecting a property change
+ * indicating what the initial user should be.
+ *
+ * During normal circumstances, the emulator will reply right away, passing a response if
+ * InitialUserInfoResponseAction::DEFAULT (so Android could use its own logic to decide which user
+ * to boot).
+ *
+ * But during development / testing, the behavior can be changed using lshal dump, which must use
+ * the areaId to indicate what should happen next.
+ *
+ * So, the behavior of set(INITIAL_USER_INFO) is:
+ *
+ * - if it has an areaId, store the property into mInitialUserResponseFromCmd (as it was called by
+ *   lshal).
+ * - else if mInitialUserResponseFromCmd is not set, return a response with the same request id and
+ *   InitialUserInfoResponseAction::DEFAULT
+ * - else the behavior is defined by the areaId on mInitialUserResponseFromCmd:
+ * - if it's 1, reply with mInitialUserResponseFromCmd and the right request id
+ * - if it's 2, reply with mInitialUserResponseFromCmd but a wrong request id (so Android can test
+ *   this error scenario)
+ * - if it's 3, then don't send a property change (so Android can emulate a timeout)
+ *
+ */
+StatusCode EmulatedVehicleServer::onSetInitialUserInfo(const VehiclePropValue& value,
+                                                       bool updateStatus) {
+    // TODO: LOG calls below might be more suited to be DEBUG, but those are not being logged
+    // (even when explicitly calling setprop log.tag. As this class should be using ALOG instead of
+    // LOG, it's not worth investigating why...
+
+    if (value.areaId != 0) {
+        LOG(INFO) << "set(INITIAL_USER_INFO) called from lshal; storing it: " << toString(value);
+        mInitialUserResponseFromCmd.reset(new VehiclePropValue(value));
+        return StatusCode::OK;
+    }
+    LOG(INFO) << "set(INITIAL_USER_INFO) called from Android: " << toString(value);
+
+    if (value.value.int32Values.size() == 0) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "invalid request (no requestId): " << toString(value);
+        return StatusCode::INVALID_ARG;
+    }
+    int32_t requestId = value.value.int32Values[0];
+
+    // Create the update property and set common values
+    auto updatedValue = createVehiclePropValue(VehiclePropertyType::MIXED, 0);
+    updatedValue->prop = INITIAL_USER_INFO;
+    updatedValue->timestamp = elapsedRealtimeNano();
+
+    if (mInitialUserResponseFromCmd == nullptr) {
+        updatedValue->value.int32Values.resize(2);
+        updatedValue->value.int32Values[0] = requestId;
+        updatedValue->value.int32Values[1] = (int32_t)InitialUserInfoResponseAction::DEFAULT;
+        LOG(INFO) << "no lshal response; returning InitialUserInfoResponseAction::DEFAULT: "
+                  << toString(*updatedValue);
+        onPropertyValueFromCar(*updatedValue, updateStatus);
+        return StatusCode::OK;
+    }
+
+    // mInitialUserResponseFromCmd is used for just one request
+    std::unique_ptr<VehiclePropValue> response = std::move(mInitialUserResponseFromCmd);
+
+    // TODO(b/138709788): rather than populate the raw values directly, it should use the
+    // libraries that convert a InitialUserInfoResponse into a VehiclePropValue)
+
+    switch (response->areaId) {
+        case 1:
+            LOG(INFO) << "returning response with right request id";
+            *updatedValue = *response;
+            updatedValue->areaId = 0;
+            updatedValue->value.int32Values[0] = requestId;
+            break;
+        case 2:
+            LOG(INFO) << "returning response with wrong request id";
+            *updatedValue = *response;
+            updatedValue->areaId = 0;
+            updatedValue->value.int32Values[0] = -requestId;
+            break;
+        case 3:
+            LOG(INFO) << "not generating a property change event because of lshal prop: "
+                      << toString(*response);
+            return StatusCode::OK;
+        default:
+            LOG(ERROR) << "invalid action on lshal response: " << toString(*response);
+            return StatusCode::INTERNAL_ERROR;
+    }
+
+    LOG(INFO) << "updating property to: " << toString(*updatedValue);
+    onPropertyValueFromCar(*updatedValue, updateStatus);
+    return StatusCode::OK;
+}
+
 EmulatedPassthroughConnectorPtr makeEmulatedPassthroughConnector() {
     return std::make_unique<EmulatedPassthroughConnector>();
 }
diff --git a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.h b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.h
index 5fc6493..6d927b0 100644
--- a/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.h
+++ b/automotive/vehicle/2.0/default/impl/vhal_v2_0/EmulatedVehicleConnector.h
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@
             std::bind(&EmulatedVehicleServer::onFakeValueGenerated, this, std::placeholders::_1)};
 
     VehiclePropValuePool* mValuePool{nullptr};
+
+    // TODO(b/146207078): it might be clearer to move members below to an EmulatedUserHal class
+    std::unique_ptr<VehiclePropValue> mInitialUserResponseFromCmd;
+    StatusCode onSetInitialUserInfo(const VehiclePropValue& value, bool updateStatus);
 };
 
 // Helper functions