Apple Recruiting Automotive Experts to Work in 'Top-Secret Research Lab'

[TMay]

Fixed that for you

One problem though.

How do we know that driving an electric car ensures a cleaner Earth? That is the biggest problem with electric cars right now, not enough of the power used to charge them is clean and renewable. If all the cars in the world were magically turned into electric versions overnight tonight, the increase in global electric power capacity required to power them all not only doesn't actually exist, but if it did and was generated using power sources in the same ratio as today, it would release a virtually equivalent amount of green house gases and cause equally as much pollution as the current situation of burning fossil fuels in internal combustion engines.

Also, if everyone was driving eletric cars the cost of electricity would rise substantially as well, because of the increased demand, and the need to expand supply to meet it. This would have a knock in effect, making it more expensive to power your household as well - say hello to skyrocketing utility bills!

I mean we already have several areas of the US having brown-outs. The power grid is already in need of upgrading and expanding, and is struggling to meet the population's ever increasing demand for energy.

Nope, in my opinion, as humble as it is, I believe that the electric car isn't the answer. The answer is an upgrade of the global power grid in terms of not only capacity and infrastructure but also of power source.

If you have coal, gas and nuclear power generating the lion's share of your electricity, what's the point of electric cars?

Viable Solar, Wind, Tidal, Water and Geothermal power generation technologies need to be developed and built out on a global scale and implemented into the grid in combination with a move to electric powered transportation, otherwise it is literally pointless.

Not that I don't want a Tesla Model X more than badly, and not that I don't claim I wouldn't feel better about myself owning one, over say, an Audi Q7 or something, but I also don't think I would disillusion myself into thinking I am saving the world by driving an electric car.

My neighbor has a Ford Energi electric. Charges if from his house solar panels.

Your argument fails.

 

[burtba]

I highly doubt Apple are making a CAR. More likely that they are making an ADD-ON for cars that they would ultimately try to make deals with specific car manufacturers to include in their car from release. Such as the deals they have made with Car Play. I dare say it would be more like;
Apple Car Automation

 

[cajun67]

Fixed that for you

One problem though.

How do we know that driving an electric car ensures a cleaner Earth? That is the biggest problem with electric cars right now, not enough of the power used to charge them is clean and renewable. If all the cars in the world were magically turned into electric versions overnight tonight, the increase in global electric power capacity required to power them all not only doesn't actually exist, but if it did and was generated using power sources in the same ratio as today, it would release more green house gases and cause more pollution than the current situation of burning fossil fuels in internal combustion engines.

Also, if everyone was driving eletric cars the cost of electricity would rise substantially as well, because of the increased demand, and the need to expand supply to meet it. This would have a knock in effect, making it more expensive to power your household as well - say hello to skyrocketing utility bills!

I mean we already have several areas of the US having brown-outs. The power grid is already in need of upgrading and expanding, and is struggling to meet the population's ever increasing demand for energy.

Nope, in my opinion, as humble as it is, I believe that the electric car isn't the answer. The answer is an upgrade of the global power grid in terms of not only capacity and infrastructure but also of power source.

If you have coal, gas and nuclear power generating the lion's share of your electricity, what's the point of electric cars?

Viable Solar, Wind, Tidal, Water and Geothermal power generation technologies need to be developed and built out on a global scale and implemented into the grid in combination with a move to electric powered transportation, otherwise it is literally pointless.

Electric cars are still using "dirty" electricity, but at least it gives us the option of relocating that power generation away from densely populated areas.

Haven't heard of browouts in a while. The last ones I heard about were the California brownouts in the 90's -- but those were a result of Enron trying to manipulate energy prices, and not because demand exceeded supply.

I do agree that the mass rollouts of EV's will likely cause problems with the power grid, though. There's two things that we need to support EV: 1) home energy generation, and 2) home battery installations.

 

[simon48]

If I had to guess, I'd say this is a long term R&D project for self driving cars. Apple likes to be ahead of the curve and if you really look into the future, human driven cars are going to die out. If it's for adding to existing cars or a brand new car from scratch I have no idea. Or this is all just for a new in car entertainment system.

 

[SirCheese]

"Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer" Job Title as well as other automotive-related titles were added today to jobs.apple.com

And what makes you assume they are auto-related titles?

 

[Vanilla Face]

If I had to guess, I'd say this is a long term R&D project for self driving cars. Apple likes to be ahead of the curve and if you really look into the future, human driven cars are going to die out. If it's for adding to existing cars or a brand new car from scratch I have no idea. Or this is all just for a new in car entertainment system.

I'd argue the opposite. Instead of trying to beat everyone to the punch, Apple waits until technologies are mature enough to give users the experience that they want to give them. While Google has been working on this solution for a while, this could be an indication that the technologies that Apple thinks are required are finally ready.

 

[SirCheese]

Cue the Samsung car.

You are about 16 years to late...they were already in the car business.

This Samsung copying ******** needs to just...stop.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

My neighbor has a Ford Energi electric. Charges if from his house solar panels.

Your argument fails.

Hmmm...seems like not everyone in the world lives in Nevada where solar energy is as powerful or efficient.

I have a neighbor that has solar panels that are basically worthless to him 9 months out of the year. He uses them to heat his pool in June to August, and tells me they barely generate enough power to do that, he has never been able to export or sell net negative energy usage back to the power company. Claims that his panels barely produce enough power to operate his TV for most of the year.

He's a pretty dour guy, but his point is taken...

 

[yossi]

Think of the naming scheme!

iCar
iCar S
iCar Air
iCar Mini

 

[synp]

Hmmm...seems like not everyone in the world lives in Nevada where solar energy is as powerful or efficient.

I have a neighbor that has solar panels that are basically worthless to him 9 months out of the year. He uses them to heat his pool in June to August, and tells me they barely generate enough power to do that, he has never been able to export or sell net negative energy usage back to the power company. Claims that his panels barely produce enough power to to operate his TV for most of the year.

He's a pretty dour guy, but his point is taken...

Right. And most people in the world live in cities, so even if they're allowed to put up solar panels, it's very low surface area. Far less than would be needed to power a car.

 

[simon48]

I'd argue the opposite. Instead of trying to beat everyone to the punch, Apple waits until technologies are mature enough to give users the experience that they want to give them. While Google has been working on this solution for a while, this could be an indication that the technologies that Apple thinks are required are finally ready.

I didn't say they beat everyone[\i] to the punch by being ahead of the curve. They are very good at knowing what the long term trends are. Getting rid of DVD drives for example, they didn't wait, they just removed something they knew wasn't going to be used much anymore. I'm not saying they'll be first, but if they do get into the self diving car business they'll be ahead of the curve for sure.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Electric cars are still using "dirty" electricity, but at least it gives us the option of relocating that power generation away from densely populated areas.

Haven't heard of browouts in a while. The last ones I heard about were the California brownouts in the 90's -- but those were a result of Enron trying to manipulate energy prices, and not because demand exceeded supply.

I do agree that the mass rollouts of EV's will likely cause problems with the power grid, though. There's two things that we need to support EV: 1) home energy generation, and 2) home battery installations.

Yeah, Enron was 2000-2001, but US outages have been and continue to be on the rise according to this study

I agree that personal power generation is a good answer to the problem, but not everyone can just put up solar panels at the moment, the mass market access to the adequate technology isn't quite there yet unless you live in an optimal geographic area, like Nevada, for example.

Home battery installations would be huge. If you could have a battery exchange service where they had an energy farm charging batteries on clean, renewable energy, and it was like a slide-in, slide-out procedure, you'd have a winner! This is a major reason why I think the new Formula E racing series is so important. It is exactly these kind of applications of technology, i.e. quick, easy, safe battery replacement, that make it relevant. Plus it is so cool

----------

Right. And most people in the world live in cities, so even if they're allowed to put up solar panels, it's very low surface area. Far less than would be needed to power a car.

Exactly. Don't know how the billions of people living in multi-story apartment/condo complexes are going to home-generate the power to recharge their cars either...

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

That's bull-****. If electric cars were adorable and got better range many people would choose them. The are cost effective to charge and protect Mother Earth in the process. It's all but inevitable that all new cars sold are electric within the next 25 years. They're easier to maintain too; clearer; simpler internally.

LOL. Put down the crack pipe.

72 million cars were sold world-wide in 2014. Of that, 360,000 were electric or less than 1/2 of 1%.

There is hardly a demand for an electric car.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

LOL. Put down the crack pipe.

72 million cars were sold world-wide in 2014. Of that, 360,000 were electric or less than 1/2 of 1%.

There is hardly a demand for an electric car.

Hmmm...if you could choose between an electric version of a car that had better performance, cost you less to operate, was the same price out the door, and had the same range as its internal combustion engine counterpart....which one would you choose?

If electric cars were cheaper, and had the increased range, as was the scenario argued, this is the exactly the choise you'd be making.

Would seem like choosing the cMBP (gas) over the rMBP (electric) would be a backwards choice, huh?

 

[thmsup]

A friend of a friend works in a bigger but still more local coatings company, and he mentioned (like 3-4 weeks back) that they were in talks with apple, but he wouldn't go into details. I gotta admit, he was fairly drunk, but reading those rumors suddenly makes it sound pretty interesting to me.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

My neighbor has a Ford Energi electric. Charges if from his house solar panels.

Your argument fails.

How much government handouts did he mooch off the hard working taxpayer to install his solar panels?

 

[TMay]

Hmmm...if you could choose between an electric version of a car that had better performance, cost you less to operate, was the same price out the door, and had the same range as its internal combustion engine counterpart....which one would you choose?

If electric cars were cheaper, and had the increased range, as was the scenario argued, this is the exactly the choise you'd be making.

Would seem like choosing the cMBP (gas) over the rMBP (electric) would be a backwards choice, huh?

Well said.

----------

How much government handouts did he mooch off the hard working taxpayer to install his solar panels?

Oh you mean that capitalist business owner that gets a tax break for buying technology to spur a new economy, that creates jobs so more people pay taxes, meanwhile lowering dependence on foreign oil so that we don't need to ever again start a war that will ultimately cost trillions of dollars of taxpayer money?

Or how about industries like coal, oil, gas and nuclear that get similar subsidies or require huge remediations down the road?

----------

Yeah, Enron was 2000-2001, but US outages have been and continue to be on the rise according to this study

I agree that personal power generation is a good answer to the problem, but not everyone can just put up solar panels at the moment, the mass market access to the adequate technology isn't quite there yet unless you live in an optimal geographic area, like Nevada, for example.

Home battery installations would be huge. If you could have a battery exchange service where they had an energy farm charging batteries on clean, renewable energy, and it was like a slide-in, slide-out procedure, you'd have a winner! This is a major reason why I think the new Formula E racing series is so important. It is exactly these kind of applications of technology, i.e. quick, easy, safe battery replacement, that make it relevant. Plus it is so cool

----------



Exactly. Don't know how the billions of people living in multi-story apartment/condo complexes are going to home-generate the power to recharge their cars either...

Hence, why there is a grid, and why solar farms in Northern Africa might someday provide power to Europe; solar power to charge cars doesn't have to occur on the homeowners property.

Map of solar radiance for U.S.

http://www.solar-estimate.org/solar_radiance.pdf

Figure an average value for the U.S. of 6 kw/m2/day and then multiply by the efficiency of the panels.

 

[Karma*Police]

I think you have some valid points. However, Apple was not in the phone business either and look at them now.

A driver/user experience is super strong in a car and Apple is king at the user experience. Beside, they're not learning to build a car from scratch. According to the article, they're hiring experts in the car industry. I think it'll be very interesting to see what they make... If it's a car at all

It's really amazing how people keep underestimating Apple, isn't it? After all they've accomplished. Never mind the fact that they have enough in the bank to outright buy several car companies and as you pointed out, excel at UI... and autos suck at UI, including Tesla. Sounds like a market ripe for disruption if you ask me.

 

[SusanK]

Years ago Macs had a car crash sound if the computer crashed. Maybe that could be incorporated in an Apple Car.

 

[DeepIn2U]

**** just got serious!!!

Man you have NO IDEA!

Let's recap:
QNX has a 25yr legacy of interconnecting systems in cars
CarPlay is the UI for the MMI system in all cars - currently for the past 12yrs design and UI catered specifically for Audi (again QNX) ruled the interior - most recently the Audi A3 2015 model.
BlackBerry just launched their IoT platform yet has YET to announce major players/clients (actually ANY) to sign up for this.

* BlackBerry has been working with F1 team Mercedes-Benz/Petronas/AMG now for 3yrs (recent season signed).

Current:
Johann Jungwirth of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development N.America, Inc. signs with Blackberry.
(I recall under BB's last CEO-Heinz an announcement on stage with head of N.America's Research and Development at Mercedes seemed to hint of a major deal yet NOTHING was announced).

Apple just announced a major deal to turn defunct crystal glass maker premise into a storage facility. Surely Siri is not under any bandwidth or data stress concerns nor is iCloud ... so why the need for this new facility?

Future:
Apple creates their own connected-car platform entirely from scratch using OSX/iOS or Darwin core underpinnings (after all it too qualifies as a UNIX/POSIX system).

* Apple is going after a bigger REAL IoT market here and it'll be beyond cars. Home Security in iOS exists to unify offerings, yet what if the following is interconnected, securely with the apps and accessories millions already use and love?

Health:
Fitness Apps/Data
Diabetes read-outs/insulin intact/use with apps and accessories
AppleWatch - specific health related apps (does this thing have gyros? YES it does - remember those old necklaces for the elderly that you had to press if fallen to get "help is on the way" ... what if an AppleWatch was already connected and could tell a rapid injuring inducing fall occured (heart rate spikes, blood pressure rise/fall, etc etc) .. IMMEDIATE call to security (building/police), heath (doctor records/hospital records/ambulance/fire department - resuscitation) etc ... you GET THE PICTURE HERE?!!!

1984 will never be like 1984 ... and nor wil 2024 be like 2024

 

[retrospek]

Here we go again - they are making a car this time ......

It wasn't long ago the big news was they were making a TV.... What happened ?

I wish they would start making more stuff and actually releasing something...

 

[jpn]

1/ Car Play (audio/video)
2/ Car Navigation System (maps)

why cede automotive mapping to google?

and, if you want to dream a little:
3/ Car Self-Driving System
but even this is a stretch.

#1 and #2 are probably at request of certain car companies.
and/or apple seeing that car companies by themselves are not focused on the opportunities that both these product categories offer so apple will license these technologies to car companies.

the thing is, hiring so many mechanical engineers might mean something like #3.

 

[samcraig]

Well at least Apple has experience creating bumpers.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I wonder how many kids parents would buy them a $100K Apple car?

 

[MikePLP]

Here we go again - they are making a car this time ......

It wasn't long ago the big news was they were making a TV.... What happened ?

I wish they would start making more stuff and actually releasing something...

That's google. They announce whole lot of stuff that never end up anywhere(see google glass).

----------

You are about 16 years to late...they were already in the car business.

This Samsung copying ******** needs to just...stop.

They *were*(they sold the business a year or two ago after it went no where), but they will now go back into the car business after they see Apple doing it. If you want to talk about Apple sheeps, Samsung is the ultimate Apple sheep. They will copy whatever Apple does.