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Apple Aiming to Begin Electric Car Production in 2020

Mac-Mariachi said:
As a parent of a beautiful special needs girl I truly hope that some day soon my girl can get in her car and just tell it where she wants to go without the need to drive it by herself (she couldn´t). Mom and Dad won´t always be there to take her wherever she needs to go. :(
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This this this! I really hope for a future where these things are the norm, and everyone has one to get around in. My grandma has dementia, it's mild but enough that she's had to hand in her drivers license. Other than that she's fully up to speed and can cook, look after herself. Having something like this would make her life loads easier.

I am very excited by this tech.
 
Elbon said:
I disagree. Apple did not become a record label - they worked with existing record labels. Apple did not become a TV/movie studio or cable provider - they worked with existing studios and providers.

Apple is smart enough to know when it can create an industry (iPod/iPhone/iPad) and when it can augment an existing industry. This will be the latter.
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They provide a direct consumer experience. Providing part in other people's experience would go against this grain totally. That's why carplay is not a totally good experience, it is not the Apple experience.
 
iCar for sale -

5 careful owners, very well looked after, clean and tidy, only 2000 cycles on battery. No software bugs. First to see will buy.
 
electric cars aren't the future, there's not enough lithium on this planet for world's needs...


on a side note: Will Apple also sell bumpers for their cars?
 
I see this to happen highly unlikely.

I do not see Apple becoming a vehicle manufacturer.

This secret automotive project could be, imho, a complete redesign of vehicle electronics, a car computer that controls every bit of electronics and mechatronics of the car that is intuitive and simple to use.

Or, it could be a battery system for EVs thatch quickly be swapped for a charged one at a gas station kind of place if it's depleted. Now that would be an awesome deal, massively improving recharging times, a true competitor to Fuel Cell vehicles.

However I see little to no use of developing a complete automobile as this is far beyond Apple's know-how.
 
Smartass said:
electric cars aren't the future, there's not enough lithium on this planet for world's needs...


on a side note: Will Apple also sell bumpers for their cars?
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Interesting point, do you have a reference for earth`s lithium reserves vs how much world would need for electricity storage?
 
guzhogi said:
I agree, once you get good mileage, it would be a tipping point. However, how far you can go is only part of the problem:



As good as 400 miles/charge is, where can you fill up? How quickly can you fill up an electric car? With regular cars, gas stations are very common. Plus, it takes what? 5-10 minutes to fill an empty tank. I've heard electric cars take HOURS to charge from empty to full. Plus, here's the hitch: we all know how Apple loves proprietary connectors. I fear that if Apple does make a car, it'll need a proprietary charger. So good luck finding a place to charge. With an Apple brand, I'm sure gas stations or whoever will be willing to get the appropriate charging stations, but that would take months, if not years, after Apple announces it.
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It took some time for all those filling stations to be built. Even thirty years ago, there were only a few stations that were open late at night. I remember sleeping in our car at a gas station because we were out of gas and the station didn't open until 6 am.

The infrastructure grew as more people got cars, and the early adopters planned their trips more carefully. Remember, they didn't even have mobile phones to call for help if they ran out of gas. And they often weren't driving on roads designed for cars.

If it takes months or years for the charging infrastructure to be built, then Apple will be coming in at about the right time to take advantage of it. Plus, a smart car will be able to tell you where the nearest charging station is, and whether you have enough juice to get there, even in a strange city. Early automobile drivers didn't have that kind of information at their beck and call. They stayed close to home, or carried a gas can and a good pair of walking boots in their "boot".
 
Keirasplace said:
They provide a direct consumer experience. Providing part in other people's experience would go against this grain totally. That's why carplay is not a totally good experience, it is not the Apple experience.
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Apple would need total control of the dash. That's why CarPlay sucks right now. Will auto manufacturers let Apple own their dashboards? That's the question.
 
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Smartass said:
electric cars aren't the future, there's not enough lithium on this planet for world's needs...


on a side note: Will Apple also sell bumpers for their cars?
Click to expand...

There's more than one way to make rechargeable batteries. Just as previous battery technology did not rely on lithium, I'm guessing future battery technology also won't rely on it. And the next one could make lithium totally obsolete in terms of charging time, capacity per volume, etc.
 
Elbon said:
Apple is not building a car. They may be building components for cars produced by other manufacturers (e.g. sensors/self-driving logic).
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Maybe. Apple does have CarPlay, HomeKit and other APIs/SDKs for 3rd party use.

On the other hand, Apple hasn't made hardware components for 3rd party products before, AFAIK. The only components that I know of Apple designs that are part of a larger product are the AX process for iDevices, which Apple makes.

doelcm82 said:
It took some time for all those filling stations to be built. Even thirty years ago, there were only a few stations that were open late at night. I remember sleeping in our car at a gas station because we were out of gas and the station didn't open until 6 am.

The infrastructure grew as more people got cars, and the early adopters planned their trips more carefully. Remember, they didn't even have mobile phones to call for help if they ran out of gas. And they often weren't driving on roads designed for cars.

If it takes months or years for the charging infrastructure to be built, then Apple will be coming in at about the right time to take advantage of it. Plus, a smart car will be able to tell you where the nearest charging station is, and whether you have enough juice to get there, even in a strange city. Early automobile drivers didn't have that kind of information at their beck and call. They stayed close to home, or carried a gas can and a good pair of walking boots in their "boot".
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Fair enough.
 
Mac-Mariachi said:
I´m sure some companies will eventually offer this self driven cars, and I would love Apple to be one of those companies.

Go for it Apple! Self Driven cars!
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I bet that in 20 years, it will be only the older generation that know how to actually 'drive' cars. Most cars then will be self-driving. It's like the stick-shift today, most younger people have no clue how to drive a stick-shift. (At least in the US - when I've visited Europe, I always get a stick-shift rental car, it seems they're still popular there)

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patrickcwelsh said:
The Apple Store is going to be even more of a PITA. How long do I have to wait for a Genius Bar appointment if I need an iTire rotation?
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See? This will be what I bet is Apple's advantage.

Buy an Apple car, and the maintenance is much easier. Apple will have everything hooked up, like oil, gas/air filters, belts, tires, etc. so that the car will tell you when something is needed to be done.

I go crazy with cars today where my wife doesn't change the oil for 9 months, and is almost gone from the engine, as the oil is leaking (or being burnt off). Today's cars don't let you know unless you physically open the hood and check yourself.

It's more of a maintenance nightmare today.
 
Tesla and Apple are the BMW and Mercedes of the car world

Normal people will be buying electric cars from classic car companies like Nissan, which understand that not everyone is rich. :p
 
Roessnakhan said:
No, Space Gray. The black version would get scuffed too much.
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Wasn't there talks about making dark cars illegal, at least in some countries/states where the winters aren't even below freezing? You know, Earth getting warmer and all, meaning everyone needs to run the car A/C all the time, etc?

What would be revolutionary is to partner up with a company like Kent Displays and use their Reflex® LCD Electronic Skins on the car panels so that we can change the colour of our cars on-demand. Winter? Make it black. Summer? Make it white. :D
 
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bbeagle said:
I bet that in 20 years, it will be only the older generation that know how to actually 'drive' cars. Most cars then will be self-driving. It's like the stick-shift today, most younger people have no clue how to drive a stick-shift. (At least in the US - when I've visited Europe, I always get a stick-shift rental car, it seems they're still popular there)
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I see that with a lot of things today, not just cars. I work in a school, and so many kids have horrible handwriting. Plus, so many of them don't know how to write a street address, or even how to read an analog clock.

See? This will be what I bet is Apple's advantage.

Buy an Apple car, and the maintenance is much easier. Apple will have everything hooked up, like oil, gas/air filters, belts, tires, etc. so that the car will tell you when something is needed to be done.

I go crazy with cars today where my wife doesn't change the oil for 9 months, and is almost gone from the engine, as the oil is leaking (or being burnt off). Today's cars don't let you know unless you physically open the hood and check yourself.

It's more of a maintenance nightmare today.
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Sorry, but for some reason, this made my cynical side flair up. I fear Apple might tell you that something's wrong, but Apple will make it not user-serviceable. Flat tire? Only can be fixed at an Apple Store. Low oil? Only fixable at an Apple Store. Look at what Apple's done with its computers. Soldered RAM and proprietary SSDs. Only the Mac Pro & iMac have user-serviceable RAM. And that's it. Who knows what they'd do to a car.

Sorry, just had to vent.
 
“Bloomberg’s report is quick to point out that that Apple could decide to delay or abandon its car project all together...”

This the kind of horse manure that these rumor mongers always hedge their bets with. It is absolutely, positively, certainly, overwhelmingly true that Apple is going to build a car... unless they don’t. What? you can’t claim we were wrong about our prediction. We said they might not do it after all. HaHaHaHaHa.
 
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