Apple Met With Electric Vehicle Startup Canoo in Early 2020, But Talks Fell Apart

[mazz0]

I sort of like the design of the Canoo van shown in the picture. It’s looks extremely practical and, from a stylistic point of view, it doesn’t have that bland, exactly-the-same-as-every-other-car-of-this type look that almost all other cars have. I think the shape of most cars is partly dictated by the practicalities of internal combustion engines but also largely by social conservatism. I feel the same way about the Cybertruck - I can’t make up my mind whether I like it or not, but I certainly respect it for actually being a new design.

 

[amartinez1660]

I think people are thinking about their current cars and how cars should look. If you think about a car strictly as getting you from point A to point B with no driver and the car on “autopilot” who cares what it looks like. ALL that matters is the comfort on inside because no one is driving etc.

Thanks to comments like yours and a couple few others I have realized that myself also fell into the trap of thinking of cars in a traditional, forward-facing human-driven engine-powered way. With this in mind now, the designs could be absolutely anything indeed.

That minivan body style scares the hell out of me. Count me out of all of them.

If you sit in the front there is either no crumble zone or you sit in it. Either is lethal in a high speed crash and even in a low speed crash your legs and feet are crushed.

I know the VW T3 is an older design, overloaded and going really fast, so it exaggerates the problem. Yet, it's an image I cannot shake why I do not want to drive or ride in a such a vehicle at all:

Spoiler: might not be suited for all audiences

Jesus-holy-christ. What’s going on there?! nothing seems like it can survive that. The driver, side passengers, rear seat passengers, non-passengers on the other side of the globe, everything would be dead... that deadly it looks to me.

 

[mazz0]

Just collaborate with Tesla, Apple.

Problem Solved. Money Talks. Cash is King.

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I’d rather they didn’t to be honest. Tesla are innovating in cars right now, and it sounds like Apple are trying to as well. I’d rather have two companies innovating than one.

 

[mrr]

My next car.

 

[incoherent_1]

Comments on the outer shell of a car are ridiculous.

Any company can build any body style you want, just like any beer manufacturer can make any beer you want. Choosing one way does not necessarily preclude them from doing it another way, especially if the customer is paying.

In any case, that's a step towards a different kind of car. Without the motor, you don't need the front end to stick out. And you don't need to look forwards if the car drives itself. Why not put a sofa in there, or a wrap-around TV? Heck, for all I care they can make the exterior look like a literal house.

This exactly. Not to mention: Don’t rag it till you try it.

Many cars in Japan are this very squished/boxy look. I thought they were hideous until I rented one on a trip there. We fit twice as much stuff in there, it was more comfortable, and it was very easy to drive through very compact streets!

 

[Treq]

In theory. Wether or not everyone will make them this way or if folks actually want that, guess we’ll have to see.

this company is making one: https://zoox.com
Looks pretty cool.

 

[-BigMac-]

they should collab with eBussy :]

View attachment 1711720

That's actually pretty cute 😃 Headlights look like big googly eyes 🥰

 

[sirozha]

should have met with Tesla.

You can’t be serious. Why would Tesla need this?

 

[icanhazmac]

Just collaborate with Tesla, Apple.

Problem Solved. Money Talks. Cash is King.

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Last week you wanted Ferarri and were "welcoming the transition", no one knows what transition you were referencing and you never followed up on it, you just deleted it.

 

[sirozha]

As cool as an Apple + Tesla vechicle would be, there is no sense in Apple releasing a vehicle that the price is completely out of range of what the vast majority of the population can afford.

It’s one thing to sell a phone for $1,000, but it’s another to sell a car for $50,000+.

They’ll let you finance it for 30 years. $100,000 at 5% and you can have a car for life. That will be about $299 per month for 30 years.

 

[sirozha]

One of the reasons why Tesla cars are successful is they look like a good looking normal cars. All these other electric car companies try and make them look "futuristic" rather than follow design fashion trends. The result are fugly prototypes that nobody wants to buy. Teslas Cybercar may buck that trend only because it has the brand recognition FIRST.

Tesla Model 3 and Y are the ugliest cars on the road.

 

[44267547]

Lmao...and Timmy didnt want to see Elon.......

There’s no substantiation to this. That was based on a loose rumor in Teslas ‘early days’ and that alleged comment came from Elon musk, which doesn’t have the most reliable track record with things he says.

Also, even if that rumor was true, Elon Musk is known for his cavalier attitude in the tech industry, and I’m sure Tim Cook is very much well aware of that. So indeed, a good move by Tim Cook if that was the case.

 

[44267547]

Tesla Model 3 and Y are the ugliest cars on the road.

On the road? I’d disagree with that. Are they the most attractive cars, probably not. But looks are subjective, amirite? I actually think the Model three is a pretty sleek looking car itself. I’ve considered one multiple times, and if you haven’t looked at one in person, they do look far more appealing than pictures offer.

 

[farewelwilliams]

You can’t be serious. Why would Tesla need this?

Tesla doesn't need it. Apple needs it.

 

[s66]

Jesus-holy-christ. What’s going on there?! nothing seems like it can survive that. The driver, side passengers, rear seat passengers, non-passengers on the other side of the globe, everything would be dead... that deadly it looks to me.

AFAIK It was a test of the testing facility with an overloaded vehicle going way too fast. And the vehicle's (a VW T3) safety is seriously below par compared to a current design.
Regardless, it shows how it crumbles where you sit, even if it were to crumble only halfway, the front passenger and driver are gone. And your legs/feet are at serious risk even at lower speeds/loads in such a design where the people sit all the way in the front of the vehicle.
There's a reason the current VW transporters (T6 I think) do have more room up front between the driver and the front of the vehicle: that's the part that's intended to crumble and slow down the vehicle gradually in case of a collision without things intruding into the passenger compartment.

I did use the spoiler thing to hide the video from those who don't want haunting images on their screen ...

 

[mannyvel]

What Apple learned from the ROKR is: carriers control the phone. If you want to make a great phone you can't let the carriers set the requirements, period. A lot of those guys learned that lesson at General Magic. Andy Rubin sure did.

What Apple's learning from CarPlay is the same thing: how cars work. Can they turn that into an integrated CarOS? Maybe. Tesla has said that their advantage in the car world is their OS. Car OSs are based off of stuff built in the 80s, and they're probably piles of spaghetti code that makes no sense...because car people aren't software people.

How much does the car's OS really matter in car design? I really have no idea...but building an OS is something that Apple's gotten pretty good at. But is that and their design process really good enough to make something like a car?

The only reason to think Apple can do it is their track record of doing unexpectedly great things. I mean, the iPhone redefined the phone...but they've also been iterating on the iPhone for years now. Have they found a methodology/proess that allows them to skip two generations? That would be an interesting achievement.

 

[Freeangel1]

if the Apple car looks like the one in the picture. I NEVER want one.
Any of todays SUV's look so much safer than that cheap unsafe people mover.

I drive a Volvo XC90 V8 AWD. For Safety. And yes it feels SAFE.

 

[Serban55]

Anyone who had or driven a tesla , knows the mechanical issues, the power train issues , even the paint issues..paint that in 2020 should never exist ..only on tesla and mazda still exist
Tesla maybe is innovative in some childish stuff but in basic how to do a car lack behind germans or even behind Koreans
Glad if Apple is going with Hyundai..at least they know how to build a car

 

[Gasu E.]

I should hope so...that lunchbox with wheels is fugly🤢

That's because you are used to cars designs that have a lot of unusable space, that needs to be covered up by design fluff. It appears that this car seats 7, but has the footprint of a compact car.

 

[truthertech]

Why would apple ever build a car to start with ?
Honestly: most major car makers are or have given up on full autonomous driving (outside the USA and outside of Tesla). E.g. Mercedes Benz stopped development of self driving cars completely.

If I were Apple: that sounds like an opportunity.
Look at car component suppliers like Bosch, Brembo, etc.: they supply not just one brand, but will gladly supply all of them.
So instead of having to enter a market and compete for customems to buy an Apple Car, they could simply produce the needed electronics, sensors, and "brain" of the car and sell that to all of the car makers. That way if one were to buy in a few years a Beamer, a Merc, an Audi, or any other high-end self driving car: they'd get an Apple self-driving car with their choice of body shell, engine, and leather without Apple having to worry over any of it at all.
It would give Apple a much larger market share for the stuff they're good at: electronics, sensors, computers, software, ...
And leave the stuff like suspensions, bodies etc to those that are already pretty good at that.

Making the entire car is too prone to failure. Small steps always works better.
Making a self-driving systems that is foolproof around the world and can deal with unruly bikers, pedestrians, idiotic traffic rules, etc. is already more than difficult enough and has more than enough pitfalls already.

LOL. “Small steps always works better.” Thankfully, Apple has never followed that approach. And Apple never had and has no interest in producing parts for other manufacturers. Apple is interested in producing quality products that make profits.

 

[Mr.PT]

View attachment 1711696

Probably the most Apple-like design I've seen so far.

I’m picturing more a Magic Mouse chassis coupled with the Mac Pro wheel set...I really mean it, the chassis.

 

[Mr.PT]

Comments on the outer shell of a car are ridiculous.

Any company can build any body style you want, just like any beer manufacturer can make any beer you want. Choosing one way does not necessarily preclude them from doing it another way, especially if the customer is paying.

In any case, that's a step towards a different kind of car. Without the motor, you don't need the front end to stick out. And you don't need to look forwards if the car drives itself. Why not put a sofa in there, or a wrap-around TV? Heck, for all I care they can make the exterior look like a literal house.

You’ll need to look forward so you can see what you’re colliding into as for sofa set, you already have it, it’s called RollsRoyce aka living room on wheels...seriously car aesthetics is a very passionate and irracional area.

 

[swm]

Without the motor, you don't need the front end to stick out.

idk, maybe crumple zones come handy in case of accidents.

 

[0924487]

It’s stupid looking, but it’s beautiful.

 

[MacFan23]

Heck, for all I care they can make the exterior look like a literal house.

Instantly made me think of this: