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Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
- davidrm 6y agoApple has been in and out of the car game for a few years now, with executives coming and going. What I'm about to say will be as meaningful as this hear-say article, but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car. Things like this need 100% commitment from the management, Cook just doesn't seem like the guy to do it.
- DamnYuppie 6y agoI don't disagree with you assessment. I feel like he could be able to forge a solid partnership with Ford as the move into the EV space. Also with Ford's(F) market cap of $34.89B Apple could vary easily just buy them outright if things go well.
- friedman23 6y agoApple could outright buy GM or Ford with cash.
- asadlionpk 6y agoBut those would be terrible car companies to buy imo.
- friedman23 6y agowhy? they have the experience manufacturing huge numbers of vehicles and apple has the experience manufacturing products with good experience and build quality. Get gm to build the drivetrain and the body to apple spec, apple builds the interior themselves.
- kube-system 6y agoThey do have all the the ingredients, but they have a ton of financial baggage. Apple won't buy an automaker to manufacture cars, they'll contract it out for sure, the same way they do with the rest of their hardware.
- ucm_edge 6y agoWhy does Apple want the UAW contracts that come with any of the Big 3? Tesla showed the preferable model (from the corporate perspective). Buy the factory (NUMMI), hire some of the ex-UAW workers, and go from there. They don't need the whole hog. Plus if Apple really wants GM drivetrains, they can just buy crates them. GM's not going to turn down sales of any kind in this climate.
- kansface 6y agoElectric cars are really simple to make (Apple doesn't need the help). GM is a legacy business with a legacy business model selling dozens of indistinguishable cars via multiple competing dealerships. Its both terrible for customers and not compatible with Apple. The reason GM is priced so low is because its half obligations and dead weight. I would not personally want to bail out the doubtlessly billions of dollars of unfunded pension obligations of GM as an investment (ie, why should apple pay for the people who last worked at GM a decade ago?). Cleaning up that mess would take serious, distracting, decade long effort if its even possible. Apple should poach the best employees from the industry, not the companies. They could probably straight up double everyone's salary and still pay less than SV engineers. I'd also look to buy out some manufacturers in the supply chain.
- bonestamp2 6y ago> Electric cars are really simple to make Simple compared to what? They're way more complex than anything Apple makes now.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y agoDo you have any reasons for this? Or thoughts on other car companies to buy. Apple does, after all, have enough cash to buy any car company besides Toyota (barely) and Tesla.
- nickik 6y agoIf you want to buy a company outright you need to pay more then the market cap.
- lkbm 6y agoJust did a quick check. Apple can buy GM AND Ford with cash, and still have nearly half their reserve left over. $191.83 billion cash on hand end of October[0], GM is 59B market cap[1], and Ford is $35B market cap. I guess there is a premium you pay when acquiring a public company, but still astounding numbers. [0] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/apple-q4-cash-hoard-heres-how-much-apple-has-on-hand.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/apple-q4-cash-hoard-heres-ho... [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=GM+market+cap https://www.google.com/search?q=GM+market+cap [2] https://www.google.com/search?q=Ford+market+cap https://www.google.com/search?q=Ford+market+cap
- sixQuarks 6y agoYou're not factoring in debt. GM and Ford have a combined $300 billion in debt.
- thefounder 6y agoThey will obviously offshore the manufacturing to China so it won't really be that hard to pull it off.
- silentsea90 6y agoI think Apple is one company I would trust with entering other verticals especially in the hardware space. While phones!=cars, I wouldn't put it beyond their team to deliver on this.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y ago> I wouldn't put it beyond their team to deliver on this. Or beyond their hundreds of billions of dollars in cash to hire a team needed to deliver on this.
- kube-system 6y agoTheir cash on hand is higher than the market cap of any automaker other than Toyota, Tesla, and Volkswagen. They spent about 3/4 the market cap of Mazda to buy Beats.
- ghaff 6y agoIt seems like such an utterly different business. It seems as if there are so many more natural extensions in consumer hardware and software tech (as well as many not yet imagined). And I agree with your basic point that this is something that they'd almost have to set up as a separate company. And then you have to ask: "Does a well-funded EV startup sound like a smart business plan?" Maybe it does but it wouldn't be my first choice.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y ago> but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car I feel like people pretend that building a car is way harder than it actually is in 2020. All the components to build a car are readily available. A person can buy the parts on their own and put them together in their garage. It isn't like they have to go get a pick axe and start mining ore to create everything from scratch. Apple just needs to buy the components that already work, and then do what they do best and perfect that parts that haven't been perfected. In this case, the battery, the motor, the onboard computer, and the software. And based off what Apple has built in the past, these are the things that Apple would be REALLY good at. It isn't like they have to invent tires and drive shafts. I know I undersold the difficulty of making a car in this comment, but come one, Apple is 87 times more valuable than Ford. They have enough cash on hand to buy Ford 5 times. Money might not solve all problems, but it really really helps.
- davidrm 6y agoI work for a tier 1 EV supplier, I've spent 2 months in Hyundai's Namyang R&D center, several weeks at Aston Martin's facilities, and some others, you undersold it by A LOT. Ford, GM and other veterans on the industry have long lost their original spirit, just like any other company, but what they have is established processes and supply chain management, and that takes decades to do right. You can ship a 1st gen iPhone without a working camera, vehicle recalls hit you much harder.
- oblio 6y agoAnd you need to supply parts for vehicles for almost a decade after the vehicle is no longer sold. At least in Europe.
- ksec 6y ago>but what they have is established processes and supply chain management, and that takes decades to do right. From my long time reading on HN, 99.99% of HN have absolutely zero visibility and knowledge on anything with Supply Chain. I mean even the Web Industry and Programmers all jumped on to Cloud computing they dont have have the concept of "lead time" anymore.
- wlesieutre 6y agoThe news about it recently was shuffling it back under their AI executive: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/12/08/giannandrea-titan https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/12/08/giannandrea-tit... As Gruber quipped - “This car is as smart as Siri” sounds like a threat, not a selling point.
- amelius 6y ago> Things like this need 100% commitment from the management Then how can Elon Musk pull it off with only 50%?
- davidrm 6y agoYou could put me in charge and assuming I really go 100%, I doubt I'd pull it off. Point is, it also takes someone who really wants to and can do it. Also, I'm just a guy on the internet, I really hope Cook sees this and decides to spite me and build an awesome car, I'm also a dreamer.
- bonestamp2 6y agoHe sleeps at the factory.
- randomsearch 6y agoMaybe. Supply chains are his thing, though, so that works in his favour.
- klmadfejno 6y agoOne could look to Apple's tv show catalogue as an example of them entering a new industry without much experience. They don't really have expertise in it, and it's probably suffering as a result. But then, they also have a ton of money to burn on it, so it's not without its merits. I think this will be very hard for them to do, and I think they'll look like they're making dumb mistakes for a while. But if they really want to go this way, they'll probably succeed in some form.
- moogleii 6y agoThat's one way of interpreting it. I would venture that their public dabbling is indicative that that they do understand what it means to build a car, in the sense that car manufacturing shouldn't be underestimated. Going all-in on something like this when you're not ready is just a waste of capital and nobody wants to be the next Fisker. Historically speaking, Apple has usually made sure all their ducks are in a row before launching something, whether it's going into processor design, audio, or launching a credit card. There's quite a bit of chess pieces that were put into position first, and a lot of that was done via hiring, acquisitions, and partnerships. That should demonstrate that Apple has gotten into other industries regardless of how much management or shareholders previously understood the problem. In other words, they seem to understand when they don't understand. With BMW declining to be a partner all those years ago (allegedly), it makes sense to me that they would put their plans on the back burner. I'm still skeptical that they can (or want to) do this without a major manufacturing partner, but we'll see. Or, given how conservative they seem to be with their capital, maybe we never will. The AirPods Max project allegedly started 4 years ago, and those are just headphones.
- _ph_ 6y agoI think most of all this shows how serious they are about the project that they keep pushing it despite potential setbacks. I don't think it says anything about the ability to build "a car" but rather, that they are still experimenting with finding the right product. Apple doesn't release a product until they think it is "right".
- read_if_gay_ 6y agoI thought the rumors were dead, nice to see they're still on it. I hope they deliver.
- the-dude 6y agoJust a reminder, the first computer manufacturer who released an electric vehicle was Sinclar, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5, in 1985. Now Apple has bitten the ...? I expect MS to follow suit soon.
- neogodless 6y agoThis reminds me of the old (rumored) exchange between GM and Bill Gates... https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/crash.htm https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/crash.htm > For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day. > Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the roads. > Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car. And let us not forget that this one came true. (My Mazda, for example.) > You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.
- mulmen 6y agoMy boss 10 years ago had a Ford Fusion with a Microsoft dashboard. Sometimes it would just go blank and he had to power cycle the car.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- modeless 6y agoThe Tesla Model 3 already embodies the minimalism, software focus, and vertical integration that have driven Apple's success in the phone market. Right down to the custom SoC and capacitive touchscreen in lieu of buttons. I'm really curious what Apple's differentiators will be. Also, 2024 still seems aggressive to deploy self-driving for real.
- modzu 6y agodoor handles?
- kirian 6y agoit won't have door handles.
- panda88888 6y agoIt won’t have doors.
- dwighttk 6y agoWell it definitely won’t have Windows
- modeless 6y agoIt's funny because it's true. The door handles are among my least favorite parts of the Model 3, along with the control stalks on the steering wheel (both their mushy feel and lack of physical wiper controls combined with the crappiness of the auto wipers). Apple could certainly improve on those, although Tesla does have better handles on their other cars already including fully automatic doors on the Model X.
- jonplackett 6y agoIt's Siri of course!
- ProfessorLayton 6y ago
- thorwasdfasdf 6y agoFAANGs really need to expand into more and more industries if they expect to continue their hypergrowth. Apple, at 6% of SPY, especially.
- KoftaBob 6y agoI don't mind that when the industries they're expanding into are uncompetitive and controlled by a small # of incumbents. When companies with the resources of a FAANG enter industries like that, they're able to make it price competitive quickly. For example, what Netflix did to the cable industry.
- FireBeyond 6y agoAnd now my Netflix is almost at $20/month. And $12/month for Hulu. What about Disney+? Peacock? HBO Max? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoIt’s not the same from my experience. Before, I needed to spend at least a couple hundred dollars (usually on a contract spending an hour on the phone to cancel) on one vendor, who may or may not have the content I want, and it may or may not be available at the time I want it. Now, I can pick and choose exactly what I want, when I want it, and without advertising breaks. Obviously, if you want everything, then you have to pay for everything. All with a few clicks. Definitely not the same.
- yazaddaruvala 6y agoI pay for Netflix and HBO Max, and my friends (sorry "my family") use them. I don't pay for Disney+ or Hulu, but I use my friend's (sorry "family's") account. Additionally, canceling any of these services is trivial, and I can stagger them month by month if I wanted.
- hobby-coder-guy 6y ago
- murat124 6y agoHow would one go from making no cars at all, not even parts, to making them?
- kube-system 6y agoPeople said the same thing about that one guy from PayPal. I think the answer could be summed up as: hire people who know how to do it.
- antoniuschan99 6y agoThe criticism Tesla had initially was that they didn’t outsource their production to companies like Magna, but instead do it in-house. I think Apple will outsource it, although the article did say talks with Magna fell through. Dyson seems like it has the know how to do production in-house, but their car project failed.
- dmitriid 6y agoThe same way you go to making phones. Or own CPUs: huge upfront investment, buying the best people, companies and partnerships.
- vb6sp6 6y agoTesla started with a Lotus design and went from there. Lotus produced "gliders" for them for many years. I think apple could do the same.
- sixQuarks 6y ago
- annexrichmond 6y agoThis would be great if the consumer cost is competitive. Right now you have to spend almost $40k to get over 200mi of range it seems, which is still too expensive for most people.
- panda88888 6y agoApple car would probably start at more than 40k...
- colinmhayes 6y agoleaf and bolt around 30k after tax rebates
- mikece 6y ago"It remains unclear who would assemble an Apple-branded car, but sources have said they expect the company to rely on a manufacturing partner to build vehicles." Does Apple have enough money (cash, line of credit capability) to simply buy an automaker? I can see where it would make the most sense to partner but having an option to buy at a later point could bring advantages to Apple.
- Veen 6y ago> Apple has $191.83 billion in cash, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings I would say so. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/apple-q4-cash-hoard-heres-how-much-apple-has-on-hand.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/apple-q4-cash-hoard-heres-ho...
- ceejayoz 6y ago(GM's market cap is $58.98 billion right now, for comparison's sake.)
- sixQuarks 6y agoYes, but GM also comes with $128 billion in debt.
- mikece 6y agoThat's CURRENT debt. The joke has been made that GM is a pensions and healthcare company that also makes cars...
- oblio 6y agoThey don't need to buy GM, though. They could buy someone smaller, such as Mazda or Subaru.
- Veen 6y agoOr Ferrari. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/ferrari-is-now-worth-more-than-general-motors-and-ford.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/ferrari-is-now-worth-more-th...
- abhinavsharma 6y agoThis is starting to make increasingly more sense even though Apple making a car seemed laughable a few years ago. Apple is fundamentally now a company that can move immense amounts of capital into new industries with the underlying ethos of user experience. Apple Card was perhaps a dipping of the toes moment. In theory, Tesla shouldn't be worth what it is because the tech behind it is increasingly getting commoditized (though they work hard to stay slightly ahead). But people love Tesla and it's the first choice EV because they've really thought through the UX of a semi-self driving car EV thoroughly. Apple is just about the only company with a similar ethos and enough money and patience to be a viable competitor and have a competitive brand known for quality.
- finnh 6y ago> Apple is fundamentally now a company that can move immense amounts of capital into new industries with the underlying ethos of user experience. Also: insane supply-chain management chops, a skill that is more and more transferable - especially for electric cars.
- localhost 6y agoBut Apple have outsourced all their manufacturing. That, as we've seen in Tesla's struggles, is a huge component of making a successful product. Agree with the vertical integration aspect + nearly unlimited capital.
- simonebrunozzi 6y agoSelf-driving car <> electric car. Being successful at building another electric car would be certainly interesting. Being successful at building a self-driving car would be one of the biggest achievement of the century.
- xyst 6y agoA self driving flying consumer vehicle that is fueled by any organic material (100% clean) would be the "biggest achievement of the century". Road/highway infrastructure would be a thing of the past. Billions (if not trillions) of dollars saved in new road construction and maintenance. Can divert federal/state/local funds to education, public health, and social programs. Then highways can be replaced by housing infrastructure and thus slowly driving down the cost of housing in markets across the country.
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoImpossible
- gxs 6y agoI remember a story about how when competitors opened the first iPhone, they were surprised to see how the entire phone was more or less a battery with a screen attached to it. I do wonder if Apple building a car would generate some sort of similar epiphany, related to batteries or not.
- madamelic 6y agoElectric vehicles are _incredibly_ simple to begin with so a decent chance. But I also think that the electric car space is already very simple. Apple would be going head-to-head with Tesla which has already stripped away almost everything into a large dash-mounted monitor.
- randomsearch 6y agoUnsure if he can consult for them anymore, but if Ive designed a car I think it’d actually have more physical controls than a Tesla.
- Someone 6y agoThe looks of Tesla cars are conservative. Their cars look as much like gas-powered cars cars as early cars looked like carriages. I think there’s space for innovation there. The new Citroen Ami, for example, is a bolder design (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric) ), but I think one can do better.
- madamelic 6y agoThat's a lovely looking design. I am on-board with that. I was talking about the interior but I would agree that there is room to improve, especially as start thinking about what driverless cars will look like.
- reducesuffering 6y agoUnfortunately, in the US your safety in the Citroen is questionable as you might get absolutely blasted by countless 4,300 lbs. / 1950 kg. SUVs[0] around you. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Highlander#/media/File:2020_Toyota_Highlander_XLE_AWD,_front_(2)_6.6.20.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Highlander#/media/File:...
- ra7 6y agoIf this is true, it's interesting to see the difference in approach between Google/Waymo and Apple. Google is pretty clear that they don't want to build cars, but rather develop sensor suite and software for self driving that can be installed in partnership with manufactures. Producing cars, on the other hand, is a much more complex operation than producing consumer electronics, even though Apple can afford it. Battery, setting up service centers, repairs and so on are complex. But I really hope they can pull it off. Not to mention when it comes to self driving technology Apple probably lags Waymo by a number of years.
- MattGaiser 6y agoApple has demonstrated that they can do those things with phones. Google has no meaningful consumer facing non digital operations (and even their digital consumer experiences leave a lot to be desired, particularly when things go wrong).
- jdhn 6y agoI'm curious as to why they would enter it. Sure, they have Carplay, which seems to be better than other in vehicle UX systems other than Tesla, but the automotive industry is littered with companies that simply couldn't hack it even if they had a lot of money behind them at one point. Plus, the auto industry is very low margin when compared to tech.
- shmerl 6y agoYou can only use iFuel energy cell with your iCar. And of course you can't use anything but iTires with it and navigate with anything but iNavigator monitored by our iAI. Have a nice day and enjoy your iRide.
- madamelic 6y agoPrice: $250k Battery life: changes depending on if we have a new model Color: Rose gold or black
- swarnie_ 6y agoStops working after four years due to planned obsoletes but due to the billion dollar legal team it can never be proven in court.
- echelon 6y agoAnd Apple fans will love it anyway.
- canofbars 6y agoAnd we all pretend that tesla and the rest of the car industry isn't planning this right now.
- Ericson2314 6y agoThose of thus that don't own cars are not pretending!
- Triv888 6y agoValue: $35k
- josefresco 6y agoAlso Apple gets a 30% cut of everything you buy while using the car. /s
- Triv888 6y agoThe auto pilot also drives you to the most expensive store for each item that you need
- cblconfederate 6y agoYou re only allowed to drive to approved destinations
- nkingsy 6y agoFrom what I understand, lithium iron is actually less power dense than the latest lithium ion, but it can handle more charge cycles and it’s less volatile nature allows manufacturers to break away from the commoditized cells paradigm. It’s not considered a good choice for eg ebikes because of the density issue.
- baybal2 6y agoYep, but, big, big but: you can make bigger cells out of it. In comparison Tesla S carries huge amount of dead weight in 18650 casings, redundant conductors, electrodes, and battery module casings. BYD Han has very big cells, and single simple module body, and actually beats Tesla on whole battery energy density. Try to do it with cobalt base cathodes, they will shred themselves with internal expansion after a few charge cycles.
- klmadfejno 6y agoI applaud more competition in this space, but so help me god if they expect me to power this car with a giant lighting cable.
- sheldonth 6y agoIf Apple had their foresight of yesteryear, they'd realize the electric car market is already beyond reach and move on directly to hydrogen powered jetliners. Replacing Jet-A with liquefied hydrogen is the next great market behind EVs.
- yalogin 6y agoThis will be interesting because unlike the phone or computer, cars already exist and even electric cars and self driving technology too. It remains to be seen how Apple differentiates itself and if it can do it effectively enough.
- billiam 6y agoSteve Jobs, who for Gods sake never even pulled the trigger on a TV, would do it. Tim Cook will never do it.
- underseacables 6y agoI still can’t see Apple producing a car. The company has a history of releasing a product and then letting it wither on the vine of innovation. More like technology for a car, or teaming up on some connected technology, but they won’t make the car.
- aritraghosh007 6y agoThe project started sometime around 2016, so going by Apple’s track record 2024 seems like a possibility. Tesla needs a competition and is slowly turning into a monopoly.
- oblio 6y agoMonopoly on what? They sell about 0.5% of the cars sold worldwide.
- aritraghosh007 6y agoYet worth more than all the car makers combined! Tesla's supercharging network and battery production capabilities is a match for just a handful today
- oblio 6y agoTulips were at some point worth about 10% of the world economy. As they say, the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent, so I'm not going to bet against Tesla. However I'd be shocked if Tesla will be a top 5 car manufacturer 10 years from now.
- echelon 6y agoApple is the monopoly here. They can leverage their immense wealth to butt into any industry they choose. The reality distortion Apple has pulled on its most euphoric apologists is insane.
- aritraghosh007 6y agoMuch like Amazon or Google or Facebook or Apple, err. Apple's decision to enter the auto market for renewable clean energy and pledge to uphold carbon neutrality and be negative by 2030 should might as well be a welcome step here.
- crb002 6y agoIMHO they should do a sprinter van with a built in sleeper - and a commercial model for last mile delivery/service/transport. Hit the high end Winnebago market, family size Uber market, AWS delivery/service market, and US Postal Service. Don't compete with Tesla on sportscars. Be the new minivan.
- bruckie 6y agoNot exactly on brand for Apple.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tristanz 6y agoApple always innovates on top of a user experience change. I doubt this time will be different. Tesla made the touchscreen dominant, but Apple won't copy it. Touch screens in cars leave a lot to be desired -- they aren't particularly ergonomic and they lead to screen fatigue. They also don't make much sense in a fully autonomous era. Apple will likely build an AR-centric user experience using the windshield and new control paradigms. There's a huge area for creativity here and I don't doubt Apple can come up with something that will make a big touch screen seem archaic. If they can make the driver optional, there's even more room to think different.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- birdsbirdsbirds 6y agoIs this a necessity because Google threatens to own the self-driving car market? Is the car experience so important that it will drive phone sales? Or is this just a way to invest their money?
- billylindeman 6y agoApple should design and build infotainment systems and sell them to the auto makers. Samsung is in that game now since they purchased harman kardon
- beefman 6y agoIf Doug Field is at the helm, it'll be awesome.
- cwhiz 6y agoAt this point the charging infrastructure is the biggest differentiator for me. I don't particularly care for Elon Musk, and I don't think Tesla vehicles are made particularly well. However, is there any competitor that has even 25% of the charging network that Tesla has? Also, Apple can't even convert my voicemails into text. They seem like 3-5 generations behind the competition in machine learning. People believe they'll have a self driving car in a little over three years? Mmmmmmkay.
- loceng 6y agoIt's a strategy: let the market mature some, allowing others to make mistakes, giving you a view of what works best, and then launch a product and launch it to your existing consumer base. For example, how long ago did Apple Music come out, with how many existing competitors, and how successful was it? Apple has deep pockets, can do packaged deals for subscriptions as well as your iPhone, Apple Watch, laptop, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple didn't get into a few other markets that Elon is targeting as well, though Apple's careful to not launch too many products at once - it may put them at a disadvantage over decades; of course they can always buy companies in a market they want to be in.
- cwhiz 6y agoApple had a long history in music prior to Apple Music. I have no doubt that Apple could make a car. But I do doubt that they could make a self driving car. Google is still trying to figure it out after a decade of research and development.
- rootusrootus 6y ago> is there any competitor that has even 25% of the charging network that Tesla has? Well, EVgo claims to be the largest DC fast charging network in the US. I don't know if that's true, and I don't know if they're excluding Tesla's proprietary network. They claim to have 800 fast charging locations, and I think Tesla is a bit over 900. Tesla has more stations per location, however, I'm pretty certain of that. Collectively, I think there are more non-Tesla DC fast charging locations than there are superchargers, and the gap is expected to widen significantly over the coming years. Tesla had a great head start, though, so they command the mindshare. And some of the standardized DC fast charging stations have acquired a reputation for unreliability. But ... superchargers break regularly, too.
- kart23 6y agoAh, yes Apple in cars is exactly what we need. Can't buy any replacement parts, overpriced service that can only be done at the apple store, and they completely stop supporting old models after five years. Cars having problems driving? Yeah well, looks like you bought it seven years ago, so we can't do anything. We can recycle it to be eco-friendly though!
- actuator 6y agoHas Apple been poaching significant self driving talent to attempt self driving version of the electric car? Based on their consumer electronics past, Apple would probably nail the design and get the hardware mostly right. For self driving I think Apple's best bet here to me seems like licensing Waymo tech. Waymo seems to have the lead amongst all and Apple would be more interested in the complete product unlike Waymo which seems to be just interested in the driving tech.
- genericone 6y agoI don't know about anyone else, but a fair number of people that I have worked with in the past are now working on undisclosed projects with Apple, or have been hired by Apple with unlisted position details on their LinkedIn. There's something secret in the works, we'll have to wait and see what that is.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago> Has Apple been poaching significant self driving talent to attempt self driving version of the electric car? Well, the linked article mentioned Apple's rumored project is being led by Doug Fields, who was Tesla's senior VP of engineering. There are probably others. Of course, poaching engineers in such a hotly competitive industry seems like could lead to a lot of accusations of trade secret theft. It's sure a good thing Tesla and Apple aren't both famously litigious...
- sdan 6y agoThey acqui-hired Drive.ai which given their team, seems to be most of their self driving team. I live in their area and haven't seen any Apple cars for years, just Lexus' with a ton of sensors plastered on top, which is their self driving team (part of their SPG division).
- screye 6y agoThe inside scoop is that Apple has been poaching CMU's RI PhDs in entire cohorts, but I might be wrong. I know people who interviewed for a position there (2018), and it is so covert, that you couldn't guess it was an Apple building until you are literally in the interview room. The building, reception and address had zero indication that it might be Apple.
- dgregd 6y agoApple car is a terrible idea. Apple is good at selling luxury products to ordinary people. An ordinary person can buy a good enough headphones for $40 or spend $550 for the AirPods Max mainly as status symbol. But an ordinary person won't spend $350,000 for a VW ID.3/Golf competitor.
- jmpeax 6y agoSo, 2024 is when Apple will be suing mechanics for trying to repair Apple cars?
- DevKoala 6y agoThis is the kind of competition that will challenge Tesla in the innovation department. Exciting times ahead.
- xyst 6y ago$1M dollars says the project flops, again. The car industry is among the most regulated industries in the United States.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago> The car industry is among the most regulated industries in the United States. I work in medical device manufacturing, and it's not even close. The auto industry has regulations, yes, but it's not nearly as regulated many other industries in the United States. That said, regulations are walls that keep out cash-poor newcomers. There's a good chance Apple will fail at this thing, but it won't be because of the regulations.
- Animats 6y agoIt's interesting that this mentions lithium iron phosphate batteries as a "breakthrough technology". That echoes what BYD in China has been saying recently.[1] Lithium-iron isn't a new technology. It was popular for industrial power tools for a while. It is safer than lithium phosphate, not being prone to thermal runaway, but has less energy density. BYD has been able to get the energy density per unit volume up, but energy density per unit weight is still lower than lithium phosphate. The article also suggests that Apple would have a "manufacturing partner". After all, iPhones are made by Foxconn. So this may just be Apple selling BYD cars outside China. BYD sells more electric cars than anyone else, including Tesla, but has been having trouble getting into the US market. Apple can help with the marketing end. [1] https://youtu.be/dIt5z4wT9RE https://youtu.be/dIt5z4wT9RE
- temac 6y ago> The article also suggests that Apple would have a "manufacturing partner". After all, iPhones are made by Foxconn. > So this may just be Apple selling BYD cars outside China. In this case BYD would not just be a "manufacturing partner". Apple would simply be selling an OEM product.
- eunos 6y agoSince auto supply chain in the U.S is still very strong, might it be that Apple will try to leverage them instead?
- nickik 6y agoFoxconn is actually making a car platform themselves https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Foxconn-aims-for-10-of-electric-car-platform-market-by-2025 https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Foxconn-aims-fo... Tesla and others are already using LFP as well btw.
- 11thEarlOfMar 6y agoThe matter really turns on the rate of progress of Tesla technology vs. Apple (or anyone else). Tesla's lead is large enough that the established auto companies still (as far as I've seen) don't have compelling strategies for closing the gap. As a technology company, Apple comes at the issue from a different perspective, and arguably, one with much more overlap to Musk, et al. Batteries are notoriously difficult to innovate. We've seen story after story for more than an decade about breakthrough battery tech that doesn't or hasn't materialized, but the lead that Tesla has built has been by making a series of more-or-less incremental improvements to their design, coupled with the pricing benefits that come with the highest volume. Do you believe that Apple has a battery technology that Tesla either is not aware of, or, is working on but not succeeded yet, or, has taken a look at and dismissed?
- voxmatt 6y ago^^^ this. As others have pointed out (and some disagreed with), Apple has capital, supply-chain expertise, patience, and a dogmatic focus on the whole experience. In a realm where technology is increasingly a driver of the experience (no pun intended), cars start to make some sense. But the battery claim... I just can't imagine a universe where Tesla isn't aware of the same hard-science. I'd love to be surprised though.
- bryanmgreen 6y agoApple has billions of data points about batteries with iPhones, Macbooks, iPads, etc..... Obvious those are not used in the same manner car batteries are, but still. I'd say there's a slim possibility. But clearly it's a tough nut to crack because there hasn't really been much progress despite the necessity/urgency.
- sixdimensional 6y agoAn interesting thought - cars are becoming an appliance and offered -aaS (as a service). Could Apple also disrupt the offering model for cars with an entrance into this market?
- partingshots 6y agohttps://waymo.com/waymo-one/ https://waymo.com/waymo-one/
- redisman 6y agoI hope not. The Standard Oil-ification of Apple just seems like it'll lead to another weird all-encompassing behemoth that'll have to be hacked to pieces at some point. edit: Standard Oil was the company I was thinking about but the structure of it will be more like General Electric
- foxtr0t 6y agoEagerly awaiting a response from all the Muskian know-it-alls when Apple confirms their hardware/software relies on LIDAR.
- cblconfederate 6y agoIs this focus on EV cars in general slightly unjustified? What's the evidence for the increased demand for EV cars post-pandemic? The way i see it, remote work will revolutionize the life of ~40% of the population , turning the car to an accessory that will be used much, much less in cities. For getaways outside cities, the autonomy of an ICE car is much appreciated. Battery trucks may be in high demand, but those don't fit with apple's (high-spender) demographic
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y agoThe environment. Newborn Californians won't ever be able to purchase an ICE car, because they'll be banned entirely in 2035.
- Nkuna 6y agoI'm a simple man. I prefer my mobile device manufacturer to be different from my auto maker. Maybe that's just me. Another aspect I think Apple will struggle with (if they really pursue a full blown car) is the very same reason it succeeds: brand affinity. It was easy to ditch BlackBerry when the iPhone came out because the cost of buying a first gen product wasn't so high. I love BMW and don't see any current or nascent tech changing that. I'd love for them to compete, really compete(!!) with Tesla et al. because EVs and all they represent is exciting but I'm not so hot on Tesla. Great brand and product but kinda feel I'm not their primary demographic: tech bros who wear Allbirds and live in Silicon Valley. German carmakers have a rich history that speaks for itself when you see the badge on the bonnet. Can't say the same about Tesla, let alone Apple. Say what you will but Nazi Sled > Tesla any day. At least for me.
- mistrial9 6y agopersonally, I do not want an automobile that tracks my movements at all times, and shows login events every time I drive - electric or not
- alangou 6y agoRegarding the topic of whether Apple can differentiate itself in the auto industry — I recently bought my first car, a 2017 Subaru Forester. The vastness of the American auto market alone, let alone the international market, left me speechless. Every manufacturer offers models in categories from large pickup truck to family roadtripper to mid-size crossovers, each model with trims that could vary the performance and aesthetics and targeted price points that could raise the final price by tens of thousands. The Internet is filled with car forums, not including Reddit or Facebook groups, jam-packed with users. Forums for individual models, like one for each of the Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and Ascent. Forums for auto-detailing, rally racing, off-roading, and countless other activities. Car financing and used-car sales provide further flexibility for people to buy their cars. The size of the auto financing industry in the U.S. is in the ballpark of ~$1.2 trillion. YouTube has probably millions of hours of car videos — any random model from any random manufacturer has review videos from countless owners, each one with tens of thousands to millions of views, and these are refreshed every year. There are reviews for different tires, engine mods, accessories, trims, 6-months of use, 12-months of use, snow usage, and off-roading usage. The automobile, at least, is one of the indisputable triumphs of capitalism and the modern global economy, a testament to its ability to serve every customer at every price point and nearly every use-case. Yes, there are environmental impacts of car usage, and quality of life externalities due to traffic and roads, but, for this post at least, I want to appreciate the automobile and how significant it is to our lives. There's plenty of room for Apple, and car owners and renters across the world, I'm sure, will benefit from its entrance, whatever way, shape, or form it takes.
- MetaWhirledPeas 6y agoWill Apple charge a 30% fee to my electric provider?
- sesuximo 6y agoSources say it will only work with Apple tires (which will cost more than regular tires)
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoI hope the battery is replaceable.
- UltimateFloofy 6y agoTesla raised 20.4B. Apple has almost 10X more sitting around in cash.
- andy_ppp 6y agoI wonder if Foxconn will have to start building the city to support this very soon. Also I wonder if your car will look so beautiful, be so shiny, that you buy a case for it... will it come in peel off plastic (actually most cars already had this on their bonnets at least when shipping...). Will it be machined out of a single block of aluminium? (More clichés welcome)
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- outside1234 6y agoCan't wait. Go for it Apple.
- johnvega 6y agoAn iPhone with 4 wheels
- yazaddaruvala 6y agoApple, will not make a car. They will make carOS, the UX that is built into other companies' cars. Basically, they will build software, the steering wheel, the whole from dash, maybe even a backseat interface, and internal software (excluding hardware drivers), and standardize the UX across every automaker. Kinda like what Android did for phones, but Apple will enforce stricter regulations for carOS.
- jb1991 6y agoYou say this with such an air of authority, but obviously you are only guessing. Unless you can cite your convictions.
- yazaddaruvala 6y agoAs you say, it’s obvious I’m speculating so I don’t see why it bothers you. But don’t worry you’re not alone. Many people in my life find this same trait problematic :) My motivation: Me stating my speculation with “such an air of authority” is just me betting my publicly logged reputation on the final result. I might be wrong, I might be right, none of us know today. This makes it more interesting for me. Additionally, the confidence with which I write down my speculation let’s me in 5years look back at my comments and better calibrating my ability to speculate.
- silentsea90 6y agoDo you think car makers will give up the space to Apple OS so easily? Android if anything is more conducive to using in a car setting, but I suspect that car makers would want to keep their OS/marketplace profits for themselves
- yazaddaruvala 6y agoWhen it comes to cars, TSLA is following AAPLs iPhone story and they are around 2011. Note: cars have a longer shelf life. 20 years vs 6 years for phones. And typical turnaround is more like 10 years vs 3 years. Apple and Android dominated the phone industry in a decade. TSLA and “the second OS/UX” will dominate that industry in 30 years. Everyone now understands that Tesla will not just be another competitor in the automobile industry they have usurped the throne while everyone else was guarding the doors. There needs to be “an Android” to counterbalance and unite the industry. Otherwise automakers that don’t partner with “the second OS/UX” will dwindle and stop existing. Eg BBM, Nokia, Palm. Meanwhile, Samsung was an early adopter and is holding strong (counter example HTC, also an early adopter but dead). Like HTC vs Samsung vs Motorola vs Pixel, there will still be competition for best manufacturing and performance. Automakers that adopt the unified OS/UX, will need to make sure they don’t lose that game like HTC. If the players in the auto industry don’t see this, they have already lost. Meanwhile, it might not be AAPL to make the unified OS/UX. However, they were willing to do it with Apple Card and insurance. Partner with Goldman or (whatever my iPhone loan thing is) and provide an amazing UX. They also have tons of consumer trust and it helps get their foot into the auto market, getting the benefits (Siri, iOS apps, Maps, self driving) without taking on the risks.
- ookblah 6y agothe first apple model is gonna be some super expensive "edition" series rivaling bentleys and RR lol.
- rswail 6y agoWhich is exactly the same approach that Tesla used. They sold an expensive roadster, then an expensive SUV before selling a medium priced sedan.
- go_prodev 6y agoWould Apple be required to make their car parts interchangeable with the generic aftermarket brands and car service centers? IIRC there is a law specifically for car manufacturing. I can imagine a dystopian future with custom non-standard parts, specialist repair centers, restrictions on what you can do with it, Apple being able to track everywhere we go, what we listen to, who is with us, and establishing a network of devices that work together but not with other brands. And that's just their phones, imagine their cars!
- wobbly_bush 6y agoI can't even begin to imagine how a walled garden for a car would look like. Perhaps there are examples from already existing car manufacturers.
- AirborneUnicorn 6y agoI’m not sure you have to look too much further than Tesla for a taste of it.
- echelon 6y agoWhen Keurig does it, it's widely panned. When $favoriteCompany does it, it's hailed as innovation and welcomed with open arms and open pockets. We shouldn't accept it anywhere. We need strong laws to prevent anyone from doing this.
- lttlrck 6y agoTaking your car today to a factory dealer or authorized shop for repairs and servicing is akin to a walled garden. They would use factory parts and factory pricing. There are lots of reasons why you might want to stay inside the walled garden. The higher the value of the car, the stronger they become.
- p1mrx 6y agoTry taking your non-Tesla EV to a Tesla DC charging station, or vice versa. They've finally announced a CCS1 adapter for the Korean market, but there's nothing for the US yet.
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- christophilus 6y agoIf I was an Apple shareholder (I guess I am, indirectly through Berkshire), this would piss me off. Apple is in a very good business. Cars are a terrible business. Just compare Apple’s margins to any car company. Also, it’s really hard to move into a business that is widely outside your core competency. It can be done, but the effort is huge, and I suspect the median track record is poor.
- volta87 6y agoSame thought.
- kansface 6y agoI'm a small time Apple shareholder and have the opposite reaction. Apple is sitting on 300 billion in cash - I expect them to do something with it. They need to move into some other market because their existing ones are tapped out. Cars are a great fit: 1. Big enough market for an investment of 10s of billions 2. Its international (quit a bit of that money is stuck overseas) 3. Making electric cars isn't too hard (see Tesla) 4. Its a consumer product and they have the best consumer brand which they can easily leverage. 5. The car market is poised to be radically disrupted in the short term - electric cars/self driving cars
- eightails 6y ago> Making electric cars isn't too hard (see Tesla) I don't know, I think Tesla is a good example of how difficult it is to penetrate the car market as a new company. It took them nearly 20 years to get where they are today, and it's not like that was 20 years of smooth sailing. From what I've read they came close to going under multiple times. Aren't they the first major new US car company to start up and not go under since the early 20th century? The situation for Apple is certainly different, given their size and the massive leaps in terms of EV tech compared to when Tesla started out, but let's not trivialise the complexity of the task and the inherent financial expenditure and risk.
- aaaxyz 6y ago
- bostonfincs 6y agoThat should just about kill Tesla’s Run-up. The options pricing is just ridiculous on it, but this stock will take a slow trickle back down to ~300.
- janmo 6y agoI've read about rumors stating they could already launch their apple car in September 2021. I wouldn't be surprised if this happens. Apple has always been very secretive and the iPhone came as a surprise to many. If they rely on a third party for the manufacturing there are no reasons this would take that long. We have seen recently how quickly this can happen with the M1 chip.
- userbinator 6y agoTesla's "you don't truly own your car" was bad enough, now one of the most prominent opponents of right-to-repair is getting into it too? Do not want.
- WalterBright 6y agoApple has no experience dealing with the extensive government regulation surrounding car designs. I would expect that to be a major risk factor for Apple.
- jibanes 6y agoApple will likely buy Tesla if Tesla goes under $300/share.
- _ph_ 6y agoThey didn't buy Tesla when it was a fraction of that value, so why would they do it now?
- anupamchugh 6y agoNow this is a seriously good move for their clean energy plan. I wonder the impact they’ll have on Tesla. Elon Musk’s car firm had the first mover advantage just like iPhone back in the day. With the Apple community already treating their products as gold, Tesla cars will no longer be perceived as the premium product in the long run.
- _ph_ 6y agoOn the one side, Apple going into heavy industry sounds odd, on the other side, they don't even seem to try to hide their autonomous driving efforts. This raises the question, what is Apple developing the technology for? Apple always developed technology for their own products, so if they have an autonomous driving package, they would have to build the vehicle for it. Of course, it might look different from what we imagine when talking about cars, as the iPhone was quite different from what people expected an Apple phone to be.
- amelius 6y agoIf the design of the Apple Watch is any indication, then the best guess for what an Apple Car will look like is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Multipla#/media/File:Fiat_Multipla_(2002)_(29392161886).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Multipla#/media/File:Fiat...
- LockAndLol 6y agoThe iCar. I remember reading jokes about vendor lock-in years ago when this rumored. Given their track record, buying this would be simply giving over another aspect of your life to yet another giga tech company. Die hard apple fans will love it no matter what and no matter what they sell and at what price, they'll buy it.
- UncleOxidant 6y agoDidn't they dissolve their car group a couple years back?
- jaimex2 6y agoThis will be fun to watch unfold. A company with no innovative leadership since Jobs will get a bunch of Tesla rejects to build a an electric car with pie in the sky battery tech. If it doesn't need lithium they might have a shot. Also Apple isn't known for being a machine learning company, I'm sure the car will be very pretty but they're kidding themselves if they think they are making a self driving system that to sell. MobilEye already has that covered quite well.
- wezen 6y agoNo innovative leadership? How can you say that after the Apple Watch, Apple Silicon, etc and their stock having grown so much?
- timbit42 6y agoLOL!
- _underfl0w_ 6y ago> Apple isn't known for being a machine learning company, I'm sure the car will be very pretty but they're kidding themselves Remember the first versions of Apple Maps compared to the (relative) incumbent's? It felt incredibly half-baked and received user/media feedback accordingly. I can already see this happening with cars with the same response - "Well... building a [map/car/ml system] is hard..."
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- iamleppert 6y agoPersonally, I'm looking forward to a car that wears out after two years, has a glass trunk, no user serviceable parts and only allows iRadio and iTunes.
- ogre_codes 6y agoWhen Apple launches a new product, they tend to stick to markets where they can create a unique enough product where they can have good profit margins. For example, with the iPhone & iPad, Apple owns both the OS and the CPU. On the Watch, Apple has integration with the iPhone and the best wearable CPU. How can Apple bring a unique enough experience to the car to get the margins they command on their other products? Perhaps they wouldn't get the 30% plus margins they get elsewhere, but I can't see Apple spending so much effort to get the slim 5-10% margins you see other automakers getting.
- Havoc 6y agoIt’ll charge over a proprietary connection and you’ll be carrying a dongle for your car. You heard it here first folks
- chmaynard 6y agoFunny, I didn't realize that Reuters.com had become a rumor site. Times must be tough.
- nbzso 6y agoI will walk, bike or buy a horse before give another penny to this people. Management chops, supply-chain, massive scale. Are we so blind that allow big tech to exploit abroad, avoid taxes, buy politicians, kill any prospect of middle class, accumulate tons of user data and prepare level of automation and surveillance non existent in history? Apple car will be like iPhone, closed, with low repairability, with restricted user experience and every goddamn shady legalised practice that they can think off. Trillion dollar companies shape a future in which you will not "own anything and be happy". What is this nightmare?
- kepler1 6y agoSo, you want a vehicle that is required to protect your life and safety, interact with other people + cars on the road, filled with gasoline/electricity, can ram into things and cause harm, to be open source and modifiable by anyone who chooses to tinker with it however they want? Come join us in reality when you're ready, man.
- nbzso 6y agoActually I live in reality, we are talking here about eventual product from company for electronic devices. And this is not the problem. The problem is that in any of my two cars that I own, I can change anything I want my self and this is actually a standard practice today and without approval of third party vendor or service but I can assure you that this will not be the case with Apple Produced Car. We have clearly seen how Tesla thinks about third party repairs. Apple is a control freak monster, and whataboutism is not working for the actual users but only for the big company. Future is electric, but we have to be environmentally conscious: how about a global program for engine replacements? Some folks already are doing this with classic cars. I see in transition to electric cars lots of data hoarding problems, actually if this companies will use my driving data for training of their algos I must receive compensation as data miner:)
- ttul 6y agoClassic Apple. They dabble in various things for years until the moment is right to strike with a version 2.0 of something that others already make. Apple rarely enters the market with something that nobody has ever seen before. Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, and iPod... These were not the first products in their category, but they were the first to get the category truly right. This being said, I have no idea what Apple will get right about cars that others have not. But that’s the point, isn’t it. We never know ahead of time. There will just be a launch and then everything will change.
- bredren 6y agoApple would aim for “car” to describe the new product in the same way “phone” describes iPhone. As in, “yes it technically can place and receive calls but that is the most boring thing that it does.”
- zionic 6y ago> This being said, I have no idea what Apple will get right about cars that others have not. To the smug 2026 posters who link this thread to laugh at us: my prediction is Apple ships a clean, simplified no-frills electric car 2.0 _subscription_.
- Spivak 6y agoI realize that a car subscription is sorta-kinda leasing but I really wish that that there was a proper subscription car service. I’m in the hook for gas/charging, taking it to you for service or a swap at your request, and personal liability insurance. You’re on the hook for everything else. Standard month to month or yearly for a discount pricing. It’s one of those situations where someone other than the driver owning the car makes the incentives line up nicely. Renters have the incentive and capital to get maximum reliability from manufacturers and competition plus scale drives prices to somewhere near depreciation plus mean maintenance which is the best you can really hope to do as a consumer looking to buy.
- nickik 6y agoThe problem there is nothing that is truly next generation. Better batteries are designed to cost more. How much more then 400-500 miles do you need on a car? How much faster then 2-4 seconds to 100km/h do you need. Better quality interiors? Better then Germans? Likely not. I guess better software is an option, but what exactly. Tesla is working on that for years. Self driving? Well, Apple has no solution and if anybody has one by 2024 is questionable. Apple is likely not gone compete on price. So not sure what the angle is here.
- killjoywashere 6y agoI'll leave this here. No idea if relevant, but sure seems to show up at the same time: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/21/us-energy-dept-hearts-new-silicon-ev-batteries/amp/ https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/21/us-energy-dept-hearts-n...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- blackrock 6y agoLOL.. I’m going to throw this out there.. Apple can’t even make a simple stupid phone that doesn’t break. They can’t even make a simple stupid cable that’s functional, and can last 10,000s of usage, and is not just for show. And plus, they’ll sell you the car, and make you buy the cable, and claim they’re doing it for environmental reasons. They’re going to have a reality check when it comes to cars.
- ksec 6y agoThis is one of those thread we could come back in 2024 or 2025 when Apple wont be releasing a self driving Car.
- pruthvishetty 6y agoIt would be great for Tesla's mission if a company like Apple becomes a player in this space. We definitely need more manufacturers. But just based on the incremental engineering expertise Tesla has acquired over the years in manufacturing - especially now with the diecast, the data the hundreds and thousands of Tesla cars are capturing everyday, the increasingly vertical integration of their process, a decision maker like Musk, and most importantly, Apple's history with Project Titan (which I happen to know something about), I'm not too optimistic of much happening in this direction. There is still nothing out there to indicate Apple can handle it when the rubber hits the road at 80 mph. One area where I am slightly optimistic about Apple doing something potentially significant is in the battery space, in which case, it would compete with the likes of QuantumScape, and not Tesla, per se.
- gfxgirl 6y agoI can hardly wait when apple charges any store you travel to via an Apple car 30% because you're "Apple's customers"
- vgchh 6y agoIt will be an interesting dynamic. Clearly if anyone has the chops, it’s Apple. They have just started to topple Intel’s monopoly with M1. The company is poised to dominate the personal computing. That being said Tesla is no slouch. It’s led by a maverick founder - someone who has shot astronauts to ISS, built electric cars and drilled big holes into the earth. Ironically he seems to be taking the position of Steve Jobs It will be a mistake to discount either. If anything it’s two likely outcomes are: - America will maintain leadership in innovation - Consumers will benefit
- rangoon626 6y agoPlease, stick to the computers! There are MANY car manufacturers. Do we need another? There are only TWO mainstream desktop operating systems/platforms. We could use another, but the barrier is now too high. If the company has that much profits that they can dabble in the automotive industry, then maybe they didn’t need to use every tax minimization, supply chain efficiency, and globalized slave-labor manufacturing option at their disposal. Ppl: Why can’t you invest in manufacturing stuff inside the us? Other ppl: “You want your iPhone to cost 5-gajillion dollars?” This seems wholly unhealthy, maybe big tech is due to be broken up.
- ValisTuring 6y agoElon Musk: 'I'm Ready To Compete Against The Apple Car' source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZapfmWPxl4&ab_channel=Dr.Infographics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZapfmWPxl4&ab_channel=Dr.In...
- supercoffee 6y agoI wrote this several years ago as a joke, but it seems more relevant now. Here's a preview of the upcoming iCar FAQ page. iCar2 FAQs In what colors are the iCar available? Space gray, silver, and gold What kind of performance can I expect from my iCar? The iCar version 2 performs up to 30% faster than the original iCar and uses 25% less fuel. Where can I refuel my iCar? iCar can be refueled at any station that has Universal Pump Type C connectors. How do I select station presets on my radio? There is no need. iCar's built in stereo system automatically selects radio stations based on your facial expressions when you enter the car. Does iCar need an air filter for the engine? No. iCar does not have problems with dirty air like conventional cars do. The iCar's engine cannot get dirty. How can I open the hood of the iCar to service the fluids or engine components? The iCar is unibody and therefore the engine compartment cannot be accessed by the user. Send it to an authorized Apple service center for maintenance. How do I put luggage into the trunk? The trunk is a slot loading mechanism. Simply hold the luggage near the trunk and it will automatically be pulled in. Keep in mind that the slot loader only accepts standard size suitcases. Dufflebags or briefcases may jam the mechanism. How can I change to wiper blades on the iCar? The iCar contains no user serviceable parts. Please send it to an Apple authorized service center for all maintenance. What kind of third-party accessories are available for the iCar? Accessories also known as Accs are available at the iCar Acc store. Only Acc which have been approved by Apple to be suitable for all ages are available at the Acc Store. I am accustomed to driving a conventional car. How do I execute a right turn with the iCar? Easy. To make a right turn with your iCar simply press the Cruise control button (CRS) on your steering wheel while turning the wheel to the left. Wait a minute! There is only one pedal in the iCar? Is it the brake or the accelerator? And how do I get the functionality of the other? The single pedal in your iCar is a multipurpose pedal. Press on it with one foot for gas, and step on it with two feet for brakes.
- piokoch 6y agoThis whole move towards renewables, electric cars, green energy is great. However I am not sure it can realistically happen without some huge (not incremental) breakthrough in the battery/electronics technology. Let's look on UK only plan for this, If they to replace all currently used cars with electric ones (assuming they use the most resource-frugal next-generation batteries), it would take the following: - 207,900 tonnes of cobalt - just under twice the annual global production - 264,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate (LCE) - three quarters the world's production - at least 7,200 tonnes of neodymium and dysprosium - nearly the entire world production of neodymium - 2,362,500 tonnes of copper - more than half the world's production in 2018 source: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/june/we-need-more-metals-and-elements-reach-uks-greenhouse-goals.html https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/june/we-need-more-m... And this is just UK.
- minusSeven 6y agoI wonder how much they will charge for the charging port.