So there is no tech designing an aerodynamic vehicle with lots of mechanical part that will operate for 10+ years, being safe for the driver and other etc..? I refute that IT = "tech".
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Amid Apple Car Rumors, Volkswagen CEO Welcomes Competitors to Accelerate Transformation of the Auto Industry
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Do you still fly with Boing? That Max aircraft actually killed people...
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Yeah, this turn of events would actually match the (conflicting) rumors over the last couple of years. If it happened this way, the incumbent brands would have been very dumb to dismiss Apple‘s proposition out of hand, though. A, say, BMW with Apple Inside (TM) would have been an offer many potential customers couldn‘t have refused.
I leased an eGolf for 3 years. It's the last VW I will ever drive. It had a myriad of little flaws that added up to a tremendously annoying experience. It's as if none of the design engineers in Stuttgart took a prototype home for a week to actually drive around.
1. The passenger seat thought someone was sitting in it when the weight of an iPhone was resting on it. The result was that it would turn on the passenger airbag and complain that the seatbelt was unfastened incessantly. The seat had to be literally empty. I guess ladies who have a purse have to put it on the floor.
2. It had a governor that limited its top speed to 85 mi/hr.
3. It locked the J1772 plug in while charging. I was able to determine experimentally that this was because they didn't bother to monitor the proximity pin of the J1772 plug. If you came across a plug with a broken latch, forced a proximity transition and then yanked the plug out, the result was a huge electric arc, since the proximity transition didn't shut off the battery charger like the spec requires. Never mind that this is the kind of laziness that is the anathema of German engineering; locking the plug in is just a tremendously annoying user experience.
If VW wants to "accelerate transformation," he ought to get started his own damn self.
1. The passenger seat thought someone was sitting in it when the weight of an iPhone was resting on it. The result was that it would turn on the passenger airbag and complain that the seatbelt was unfastened incessantly. The seat had to be literally empty. I guess ladies who have a purse have to put it on the floor.
2. It had a governor that limited its top speed to 85 mi/hr.
3. It locked the J1772 plug in while charging. I was able to determine experimentally that this was because they didn't bother to monitor the proximity pin of the J1772 plug. If you came across a plug with a broken latch, forced a proximity transition and then yanked the plug out, the result was a huge electric arc, since the proximity transition didn't shut off the battery charger like the spec requires. Never mind that this is the kind of laziness that is the anathema of German engineering; locking the plug in is just a tremendously annoying user experience.
If VW wants to "accelerate transformation," he ought to get started his own damn self.
Exactly!
maybe first time owners thought it should’ve sounded like the classic V-dub Beetle.
They are.
almost 100yrs and only the diesel fiasco (Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and many many others got caught in the 80’s : 90’s with emissions spoofing/lying. They all do it.
like I said their wealth and shared expertise from Porsche and Audi (includes Lamborghini) helps their development now in electric. Less than 1yr and two models launched. expect to see more positivity with them regarding electric.
Phone industry in 2007.Fool!Does he not realise this is what the Swiss Watch Industry said in 2014!
While I agree VW has the best chance of all legacy OEMs to come out of the EV transition alive, it will be no easy feat for them. They have zero software expertise. The botched ID.3 rollout showed that in painful detail. They’re going to miss their 2020 EU emissions targets because of it resulting in significant fines.
The Taycan is pretty decent EV, but it costs 3x a Performance Model 3, has no serious ADAS, and it’s very challenging to roadtrip it because of the spotty Electrify America charge network.
If VW ends up pushing out Diess, they are in trouble.
And the Taycan has less range than any Tesla, less than half of some Model S configs.
I'm convinced that all the old automakers suck; they were all calling electric cars infeasible until Tesla proved them wrong. They can still compete by making hybrids like the BMW i3 (the ugly box) and, at least for now, things cheaper than any Tesla like the Leaf. And no, I don't own a Tesla or any TSLA.
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Makers of the battery pollution argument, which I think is BS since only "climate change = hoax" people point to it, also ignore the pollution caused by drilling, transporting, and refining oil into gasoline.
I love to drive but living in downtown Toronto within walking distance of everything, I recognize that car ownership is a waste.
Instead, I get the best of both worlds and rent a car for fun whenever I get the bug to drive and I get to choose what I want and always drive a nearly brand new car when I do drive. For longer distances within the city, I use Uber. I’d love an Apple version of that experience.
I don’t think it’s too bad of a look, though. I mean, could have been worse (like the CEO of Palm, worse, LOL), and, if anything, it shows a bit of awareness that other companies didn’t see. Of course, they didn’t see their own demise, but who does?Be careful who you welcome.
This from 2007:
Nokia marketing chief Johan Eidhagen welcomed Apple’s foray into the smartphone space.
“I think it’s good for the industry,” Eidhagen said. “It’s confirming what we’ve been trying to do at Nokia. We’ve been saying for the last eight years this would change from a phone market into something else. It has become an Internet industry and Apple is just confirming that with this phone.”
Saying this is as saying in 1980 that the key for laptops is not the OS but the battery. Bettery is a hardware problem which will be solved at once for everyone. Software in the other hand is the only thing hard to replicate. And more inportant, software is what transform regular hardware is superb hardware.
No hardware makes sense when is turn off (except a nail) and to switch on complex hardware, you need complex instructions.
think this: mobile cameras, as sony sensor are quite similar among smartphones, the key is the software
please get a grip. Let’s look at ice cars many have other ranges than others. Civic over golf, Camry over accord etc etc whatever.
Fuel or mileage range is not or never THE defining purchasing decision for any car buyer or owner. Price may have a stronger weight Than mileage To anyone. These stats had an impact still does but again not the single defining choices factor.
Taycan is for a completely different target market n owner, just like al 911 vs Ferrari, lamboghini, mclaren, etc. I stated it due to comparing driving performance.
I still believe gearing will become a standard in electric vehicles: acceleration or top speed vs mileage vs terrain extremes or payload stress.
I’m more concerned seeing the japanese makers taking their sweet arse time delivering main stream or perfromance models.
ICE cars can all be refueled within minutes at any of the ubiquitous gas stations we have now and all have long enough ranges (400-600mi, even for Ferrari) that nobody worries. The situation for many electric car owners is that they're only fully recharged at home. That can change later, but it's the reality right now.
At my office, before the pandemic, first-gen Leaf owners were complaining that Teslas take up the charging spots despite not really needing them, and it's generous that there are even charging spots in the first place.
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I highly doubt the U.S. or E.U. will allow the likes of Apple or Google to purchase an established car manufacturer, they’re already being scrutinized for being too big. The age of large mergers and acquisitions in tech is over.
as a fellow Torontonisn, I think there’s a LOT more to it. Not everyone wants to venture only in their main area for long. I’ve lived downtown and the last major ice n snow storms we had holiday 2014 all I saw was:
ice 3ft think by Fort York Blvd n Bathurst,
Dog crap n lemon ice cones (dog piss in snow) on every block from Princes Gates 251 Fort York to Blue Jay Way n Front street! No body takes their damn dogs for a proper walk just to do their business in front of the condo building they’re renting! up till mid 2020 70% of downtown condos were rented.
Clubs are fast disappearing in downtown Toronto prior to 2020, bars soon as well.
that leaves a concrete jungle of businesses, condos, large retailers, financial district, ACC, Skydome, BMO Field.
issues of owning a Car downtown Toronto:
1. bike lanes! People don’t know how to proper rude a bike n be aware of their surroundings in Toronto no more!
2. Yuppies pushed to have restaurant seating IN the road on King street, one of THE busiest streets & a main artery in downtowm, absolutely stupid when you consider!
3. The plethora of no left or right hand turns all over downtown which had added to massive congestion & confusing to visiting drivers in Toronto.
4. parking in major streets by morons including novice delivery drivers.
5. Don’t get me started on the 2 car allowed on green traffic light on Bremnet f Spadina when you’re facing East! And that dumb center island on Bremher too. Just look at all the condos there n the grocery store at the corner and think how try or exists there are???
zoning & planning was the issue from the start. toronto cannot support any more population.
Just one little incident? You're leaving out a relatively significant chunk of their history...
Teletransportation would be even better...seriously, Though you make good points I suspect Apple will be more focused in expanding their portfolio with devices that don’t need such colossal investments in production facilities as car manufacturing, unless a partnership ( not really Apple way of doing things) is on the works.
One more thing... the pandemic has showed how the need of physical presence can be diminished in some cases, sometimes with better results
and has uncovered for some, the high potential of VR, in which, I believe Apple is really investing Heavily.
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