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Apple Aiming to Begin Electric Car Production in 2020
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It's sort of expected for Google to do all sorts of weird things, half of which gets discontinued after a while. Apple has the famous "laser focus", I'm not sure how a car fit into what they do currently to be honest.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
To each his own. I think TVs made a huge improvement from before "I cracked it" to after. Are they perfect? No, but neither is iPhones or iPads.
Same with "smart watches". I'm personally not the least bit interested in one from the other guys or Apple but for those that are, step back to before this rumor hatched and there was barely anything that anyone might call a smart watch. After it hatched but before rumor became reality, a bunch of tech companies took (and continue to take) good cracks at making something and there's plenty of people happy enough with those products to buy them. The real watchmakers of the world generally dismissed it until rumor became reality and now big, capable players have decided to also take their best crack at it. Will any of them deliver a perfect smart watch or even anything better than what Apple will roll out? We don't know for sure (at least those of us who can be objective don't know for sure- those that can't be objective already know that Apple's watch will be the finest, near-perfect watch ever made
). What we do know is that with so many brains in so many companies working on it, even if Apple rolls out the best incarnation, there should be a number of innovations in others to motivate Apple toward improving beyond the usual "thinner", "lighter", etc. This iCar? It's the same again. Whether Apple actually brings one to market or not, just the idea they might should scare others already making cars into (hopefully) stepping up their own games. If- like the TV- Apple never rolls out an iCar, we consumers can still win by the rest of the pack bringing innovations to try to combat something that might come out of Apple. Will anyones- including Apples- be perfect? No. But very likely, many will be better than they are now.
And that was the point. I actually hope that Apple will really take a cut at an iCar. But even if they don't, the consolation prize should be that the other car makers will try harder... and the next car that we buy will likely be better-to-much-better than the one we have now.
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in an electric car (and most of their products), battery is very important. That's explains at least a big part of it.
The car industry is 1.9T a year in revenue (Probably around 170B in profits, I'd have to add them up to be sure). There's not much else on earth were there is more money except Telecoms, financials and Energy. Apple will have a toe in energy with batteries and a small stake in financials with Apple pay, but they're NOT getting into Telecoms. That leaves cars out of those top 4.
In a transportation system, you control the whole experience (there's nothing else like it really); that's totally in Apple's wheel house.
Cars have always been more than mere transportation, and with self driving and them becoming more electronic, they are veering closer to consumer electronics than ever before.
Transportation will soon change in a big way; best time to enter a field is at those juncture points, later its more expensive and competitors are more entrenched.
What other fields should they get into then, farming, fast food, power plants.
Yes but the transportation part is the entire reason for their existence. A car with an awesome entertainment system that can't transport you is useless. Self driving (autonomous) cars, if they will ever exist doesn't change that fact.
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use. Rather broad isn't it.
Computers, phones, cameras weren't part of consumer electronics either initially.
Personal drones, guess that doesn't fit... Except it does...
Everything's becoming electronic and electric, its a long standing trend.
Eventually, a lot of industries selling goods to the same people will meet in the middle because of that trend.
The transportation industry is one of them.
Your selling easy comfortable, no personal involvement, transportation as a product/service. The owner sets the destination, enters, asks for a mood/program and then it goes.
Whole lot of electronics, software, industrial, electrical and some mechanical and material engineering later, gets you to the destination. Apple already have people working in all those disciplines in house. They need to beef up the mechanical and industrial engineering, expertise but otherwise it corresponds to their current very broad skills.
Doesn't mean they'll do it. But, they would be crazy to not investigate it very seriously. Doing so in 3 years would be too late.
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The world needs an electric equivalent of the Model T.
A simple, efficient, and affordable electric vehicle would turn the automobile industry upside-down.
A simple, efficient, and affordable electric vehicle would turn the automobile industry upside-down.
One would expect Apple to build the most attractive electric car that you could wish for. If anyone can make them popular, they surely can. However, transforming the infrastructure is a monumental undertaking that is out of their hands. The only way to solve the charge problem, to my mind, is to hugely reduce the charge time. It sounds, from the recent rumours, that Apple are concentrating on battery tech. I'd love an electric Apple Car; I guess Cook and Ive like a challenge!
Excellent point. (I never thought of it but I should have). I had a quick check and found this as a recommendation of the AA (British Automobile Association): "Take regular fifteen minutes breaks in journeys over three hours. Aim to stop every two hours or so. This is more important if you're not used to driving long distances."
So if an electric car can drive 200 miles and can be recharged in 15 minutes, then you have unlimited range if you are just following the AA recommendation for safe driving.
Here's why I think apple is building an e car,
- goes with the ethos of making a dent in the universe and with reducing reliance of fossil fuel, saving the universe.
- market is big and profitable. Not for GM but bmw which Steve jobs liked to compare apple to.
- industry is ripe for disruption from gas powered to e, smart, networking, and self driving. Competition is light in that space... Tesla, Google and some Chinese companies and who else? Apple is not competing against the likes of GM. Those dinos are too entrenched in their current way of thinking and doing. Have you seen how they still make clay models during their design process? What has fundamentally changed for the last 100 years? Yup nothing. Many will go the way of Nokia and blockbusters.
- Apple has or can acquire key tech - working with aluminum and other metals, batteries, electronics, software, etc. The rest of the components are supplied by contractors. Kinda like how apple produces iPhones. And kinda like all other cars manufacturers actually... Many don't produce their own trans, airbags, seats, tires, electronics, etc. some don't even do engines.
- apple is hiring hundreds to produce a car. Not CarPlay.
- with an e car, you can encapsulate and modularized most components. Like the apple watch. The repairs and servicing will be more like changing entire large parts which can then be returned to factories. Can anyone say authorized service providers and AppleCare car plus?
- it's really not that hard to manufacture a 19th century product. China India thailand... Heck even Malaysia/Indonesia have produced/assembled cars. If you take away the combustion engine and transmission, what's so difficult about manufacturing cars? And taking away both is exactly what apple wants to do. Please stop the jokes comparing an os to a car. One is more advanced than the other by a century.
- goes with the ethos of making a dent in the universe and with reducing reliance of fossil fuel, saving the universe.
- market is big and profitable. Not for GM but bmw which Steve jobs liked to compare apple to.
- industry is ripe for disruption from gas powered to e, smart, networking, and self driving. Competition is light in that space... Tesla, Google and some Chinese companies and who else? Apple is not competing against the likes of GM. Those dinos are too entrenched in their current way of thinking and doing. Have you seen how they still make clay models during their design process? What has fundamentally changed for the last 100 years? Yup nothing. Many will go the way of Nokia and blockbusters.
- Apple has or can acquire key tech - working with aluminum and other metals, batteries, electronics, software, etc. The rest of the components are supplied by contractors. Kinda like how apple produces iPhones. And kinda like all other cars manufacturers actually... Many don't produce their own trans, airbags, seats, tires, electronics, etc. some don't even do engines.
- apple is hiring hundreds to produce a car. Not CarPlay.
- with an e car, you can encapsulate and modularized most components. Like the apple watch. The repairs and servicing will be more like changing entire large parts which can then be returned to factories. Can anyone say authorized service providers and AppleCare car plus?
- it's really not that hard to manufacture a 19th century product. China India thailand... Heck even Malaysia/Indonesia have produced/assembled cars. If you take away the combustion engine and transmission, what's so difficult about manufacturing cars? And taking away both is exactly what apple wants to do. Please stop the jokes comparing an os to a car. One is more advanced than the other by a century.
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You just know that Apple will make this thing 'kid poof'
* Connect via iPhone and turn it on
* when a teen gets it, they will be limited to 60-70mph
* handle the doors rough, and the "child safety locks" will auto-engage.
*only the authorized user (yes u can authorize your car via iTunes) account holder will be able to turn features off, turn on.
* Connect via iPhone and turn it on
* when a teen gets it, they will be limited to 60-70mph
* handle the doors rough, and the "child safety locks" will auto-engage.
*only the authorized user (yes u can authorize your car via iTunes) account holder will be able to turn features off, turn on.
Don't forget that most city dwellers have no way to plug in cars. That's why you never see any full EV cars in cities. They don't just make up a good chunk of the population, they also have the most money to spend on high end products like Apple iPhones, iPads, Macs and eventually cars. It's like launching an LTE iPhone with no coverage in cities. It won't happen.
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I hope they don't support cars that old. That's a Microsoft move like supporting Wndows XP decades after it's been released. That kind of support slows down innovation and progress for the sake of a few cheapskates and paranoid organizations afraid to upgrade. If buyers can't get on board with the a new Apple car release every year and buy or lease their own new Apple car every 5-10 years, Apple won't be able to fix the ailing car industry.
Oh NO!!
Please Tim, Don't!!! ..............What the heck for???? Bad idea, IF that's what they really going to do.
Please Tim, Don't!!! ..............What the heck for
???? Bad idea, IF that's what they really going to do.
To each his own. I think TVs made a huge improvement from before "I cracked it" to after. Are they perfect? No, but neither is iPhones or iPads.
Same with "smart watches". I'm personally not the least bit interested in one from the other guys or Apple but for those that are, step back to before this rumor hatched and there was barely anything that anyone might call a smart watch. After it hatched but before rumor became reality, a bunch of tech companies took (and continue to take) good cracks at making something and there's plenty of people happy enough with those products to buy them. The real watchmakers of the world generally dismissed it until rumor became reality and now big, capable players have decided to also take their best crack at it. Will any of them deliver a perfect smart watch or even anything better than what Apple will roll out? We don't know for sure (at least those of us who can be objective don't know for sure- those that can't be objective already know that Apple's watch will be the finest, near-perfect watch ever made
This iCar? It's the same again. Whether Apple actually brings one to market or not, just the idea they might should scare others already making cars into (hopefully) stepping up their own games. If- like the TV- Apple never rolls out an iCar, we consumers can still win by the rest of the pack bringing innovations to try to combat something that might come out of Apple. Will anyones- including Apples- be perfect? No. But very likely, many will be better than they are now.
And that was the point. I actually hope that Apple will really take a cut at an iCar. But even if they don't, the consolation prize should be that the other car makers will try harder... and the next car that we buy will likely be better-to-much-better than the one we have now.
well said - personally, I will look forward to buying the German competitor
What I think Apple is really doing with the mystery van
Apple is a GIANT computer company. Incidentally since Jan of 2007 they are no longer a giant computer company but a giant electronics company as of that time they dropped the "computer" from their name and are now known as Apple, Inc. So now they are simply a giant consumer electronics company.
Now what would a consumer electronics company know about being an automobile manufacture? they wouldn't. It's in my honest opinion that they are actually setting the stage for either a more robust carplay or siri in-car experience. Or something even more daring and building their own dash system.
We all know that Apple is all encompassing. They research and test relentlessly to make sure that as consumers we get the best experience out of their devices. In order to do that they must take all avenues of approach. I believe that they have retro-fitted a vehicle with sensors, cameras and the like and to have all that raw data and information to be sent to a new app or possibly built in car infotainment system to be either sold as an OEM to car manufacturers or as a aftermarket system to be sold to consumers to be installed. As well as beefing up the in-car experience of their carplay and siri integration.
http://appletechinsight.blogspot.com/2015/02/apple-is-not-building-electric-car.html
Apple is a GIANT computer company. Incidentally since Jan of 2007 they are no longer a giant computer company but a giant electronics company as of that time they dropped the "computer" from their name and are now known as Apple, Inc. So now they are simply a giant consumer electronics company.
Now what would a consumer electronics company know about being an automobile manufacture? they wouldn't. It's in my honest opinion that they are actually setting the stage for either a more robust carplay or siri in-car experience. Or something even more daring and building their own dash system.
We all know that Apple is all encompassing. They research and test relentlessly to make sure that as consumers we get the best experience out of their devices. In order to do that they must take all avenues of approach. I believe that they have retro-fitted a vehicle with sensors, cameras and the like and to have all that raw data and information to be sent to a new app or possibly built in car infotainment system to be either sold as an OEM to car manufacturers or as a aftermarket system to be sold to consumers to be installed. As well as beefing up the in-car experience of their carplay and siri integration.
http://appletechinsight.blogspot.com/2015/02/apple-is-not-building-electric-car.html
MG Siegler says it would be foolish for Apple to not be looking at the automotive industry. That at $182B in revenues the only things that can really move the needle are telecom, energy, banking or automotive. I can't see Apple becoming a telecom or energy company so that leaves banking and automotive. I think those are two areas Apple is definitely exploring Pay and CarPlay are just the tip of the iceberg. And with that story that Toyota has no plans to integrate CarPlay anytime soon it seems clear that Apple owning the dash for existing car companies isn't going to happen or would be very difficult and probably provide a very fragmented and less than great customer experience.
https://medium.com/five-hundred-wor...if-apple-wasn-t-working-on-a-car-52630793cc96
https://medium.com/five-hundred-wor...if-apple-wasn-t-working-on-a-car-52630793cc96
if Apple does go automotive (have their own car), they would also likely be entering the banking industry indirectly.
Most car companies do their own financing these days and offer their own inhouse financial lending. If Apple went into the car market, they would also have to enter this market to support leasing and financing.