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kironin

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2004
623
262
Texas
If Apple really wants an environmentally friendly car, then the current battery cars are an environmental crime.
Apple might have the power to give a whole new boost to the timid attempts to create a hydrogen/oxygen car (exhaust is water).
BMW had once built such cars. They drove well.

BMW burned the hydrogen in an internal combustion engine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Hydrogen_7

View attachment 838298

Sun > Hydrogen > Fun > Water

EV's beat hydrogen cars hands down when you look at the full life cycle. Hydrogen is fool's gold.
 
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EdT

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2007
2,428
1,979
Omaha, NE
Assuming Elon Musk's personality does not clash with Apple's executives (which is a big if as he makes Scott Forstall look tame in comparison), I think the combined companies could benefit significantly from the synergy.

Tesla would obviously get a major financial life line.

More significantly, they get Apple's leading supply chain and operations expertises. Obviously, Apple is not a proven expert in automotive, but there are still a lot more overlaps and I think Apple can hire and scale (as it has in the past for Project Titan).

To key question is, what does Apple gain from having Tesla in its product line?

Since Apple has been relatively tight lipped about Project Titan, I can only speculate. But I think it could play three ways.
  1. For those that rely heavily on a car (e.g., commuters), car is among the most intimate and important part of their life. With Apple's own car, Apple can exert much greater control over the experience than CarPlay.
  2. Apple can collect important data for their mapping service, perhaps using these fleet of cars to beef up Apple Maps.
  3. As self driving technology improves and becomes far more autonomous and safer, it opens up new business opportunities, such as ride service and car rental.
No matter what you think of Elon or Tesla as a company, their cars are amazing. Yes, their cars are not without issues, but they are far ahead of everyone. Apple brings stability, operations, marketing, and design sensibilities, which are all important for Tesla's sustainability as a company.

I don’t like not being able to test drive a car before I buy, and being able to drive it for a week or 1000 miles isn’t a direct replacement as far as I am concerned but overall I would consider buying a Tesla as a second car. I live in a state that doesn’t have a lot of charging stations for anyone’s electric car and once you leave interstate 80 there probably aren’t more than 1 dozen chargers to cover 500 mile long by 175 mile wide state. But 250-300 miles would easily cover me around town and for relatively short trips of 100 miles or less. 100 miles because I still need to drive back. If I can drive most of the way on an interstate or if I travel east almost anywhere then charging stations become more like gas stations, there will be another one a few miles away.

The ability to repair problems myself is a big concern with any car and having no Tesla dealers in Nebraska and relying on traveling maintenance vans for service makes Tesla a no go as a primary car, and the cost makes it hard to justify as a secondary car.
 
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kironin

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2004
623
262
Texas
missed opportunity. Model 3 is the best car I've ever driven. 100% satisfied with the purchase.

I think it's very fortunate that Tesla was not bought by Apple. The analysts here simply don't get the real strengths of Tesla and what the goals and the big vision of the company actually is in terms of autonomous driving. If it's true that Apple is pursuing LIDAR like everyone else, then they would have derailed Tesla's innovative sensor suite and software/hardware cycle that is now years ahead of the rest of the pack.

and this story and particularly the video in it aged fast, Tesla stock has already rebounded today to 208. So much for the sky is falling scenario.
 

MRrainer

macrumors 68000
Aug 8, 2008
1,524
1,095
Zurich, Switzerland
From my armchair here, I get the feeling that Tesla is really a Musk-company, just like Apple was a Jobs-company.

Tesla did get where they are now because of Musk and despite Musk, at the same time.

In theory, bringing in Apple and letting Musk run one of his side-businesses would be a good idea - but there's a reason Apple rarely acquires big companies. You need to integrate them, you might need to run their product-pipeline dry and you need to adapt their supply chain. It worked fairly well for Beats, so far, and also relatively quickly.
But Beats was actually profitable, IIRC, when it was acquired - and much, much smaller.

Tesla is a tire-fire. They're burning through billions per year at this point. Apple shareholders wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea of writing of 30b and a large chunk of the dividend for the foreseeable future.

The cars do seem nice - but I'm asking myself, if and how electric cars can actually be built at a price-point even well-off people can afford them and still turn a profit for the manufacturer. Tesla, so much seems clear, can't.

That said, I wish Tesla every success they deserve. None of the other manufacturers was able to come up with what they have done. And that's a shame.
 

az431

Suspended
Sep 13, 2008
2,131
6,122
Portland, OR
Sketchy rumor, mostly because Tesla’s build quality is even worse than GM. You’d have to go back to the Yugo to find an example of a car with worse fitting panels, paint, trim issues, and cheaper materials.

Not to mention the fact that Tesla is a money losing pit, that has been largely unable to execute.
 
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44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,491
i don't drive 120mph. this is a non-issue for me as i drive around 85-90mph when there's no traffic.

I don’t drive 120 mph either, as it’s just unsafe and against the law. My point was, that EV vehicles can only distribute so much power in short bursts before needing a recharge.


My EV is also quicker than your Mustang GT, even if my grandma was driving it. ;)

Bragging about your electric vehicle being faster than a Mustang GT is like bragging about a four-cylinder sounding just as good as a V-8, which is not really mutually exclusive.:D But there’s nothing wrong being proud of your battery powered go-cart, we all have our tendencies of what we appreciate and what we invest our interests in.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,025
I don’t drive 120 mph either, as it’s just unsafe and against the law. My point was, that EV vehicles can only distribute so much power in short bursts before needing a recharge.




Bragging about your electric vehicle being faster than a Mustang GT is like bragging about a four-cylinder sounding just as good as a V-8, which is not really mutually exclusive.:D But there’s nothing wrong being proud of your battery powered go-cart, we all have our tendencies of what we appreciate and what we invest our interests in.

Don't get me started on my naturally aspirated 2.0L Honda Civic engine. I got 43mpg combined on my trip to New Orleans from California. I get (combined) 37mpg on my trip to work up a mountain and 47-50mpg down (combined).

My boss has a Tesla P90 and it is fun to ride in - faster than sin. My friend has a CLK 63 AMG and several M3s. Nothing like the sound of a V8. It's just beautiful. Some of the best sounding cars I've ever heard come from a group of Corvette Z06s that used to drive around Santa Clarita when I was a kid.
 
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Tummy

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2008
165
91
I don’t drive 120 mph either, as it’s just unsafe and against the law. My point was, that EV vehicles can only distribute so much power in short bursts before needing a recharge.
My V8 AMG could only distribute so much power in short bursts before it needed a costly refuel. I only got about 200 miles per tank in that car and it was slower. Our Tesla leaves home with a ~300 mile charge everyday and has much more power, almost 560 kw/over 700 hp. You also don't have the penalty of low MPG of a big gas engine when you are not diving fast.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,491
Don't get me started on my naturally aspirated 2.0L Honda Civic engine. I got 43mpg combined on my trip to New Orleans from California. I get (combined) 37mpg on my trip to work up a mountain and 47-50mpg down (combined).

That’s outstanding with that type of fuel range, and in relation to EV, I totally get where the fuel savings is, coupled with the performance factor. And if you’re someone that commutes long distances or drives extensively for work, there’s nothing more fuel-efficient than what you’re driving or even a Tesla or another electric vehicle.

My boss has a Tesla P90 and it is fun to ride in - faster than sin. My friend has a CLK 63 AMG and several M3s. Nothing like the sound of a V8. It's just beautiful. Some of the best sounding cars I've ever heard come from a group of Corvette Z06s that used to drive around Santa Clarita when I was a kid.

Yup, I got to drive the Tesla P 85D last summer, (my neighbor has a white one and it was an amazing experience). I’ve never felt torque the way I did in that vehicle, and The regenerative braking really is a fascinating feature that is unique in its own.

For me, I’ve always had performance cars with the V8’s over the years, and you can’t replace the sound/exhaust note a V8 emanates, I mean, it’s worth the price tag alone to hear/experience the 5.0 Coyote or 6.2 L SRT V8 from the Charger. The V8 is a dying breed of cars, but there’s a very strong following that will always support the likes of the Mustangs/Camaros/Chargers/Corvettes, etc.
 
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MRrainer

macrumors 68000
Aug 8, 2008
1,524
1,095
Zurich, Switzerland
My V8 AMG could only distribute so much power in short bursts before it needed a costly refuel. I only got about 200 miles per tank in that car and it was slower. Our Tesla leaves home with a ~300 mile charge everyday and has much more power, almost 560 kw/over 700 hp. You also don't have the penalty of low MPG of a big gas engine when you are not diving fast.


Yep. That's what I like about them.

AFAIK, Audi's e-Tron is even heavier than a Model X, while having a slightly smaller battery, less storage and is thus less efficient.
I would really like to see how much of the inefficiency is from the weight - and how much of the weight is from noise-insulation.

Tesla has no doubt very interesting concepts and great potential - but obviously they'd need a strong backer that could fund them for a couple of more years, to the tune of multiple billions per year.
There aren't many left of these in this part of the galaxy, I'm afraid.
It's really a shame because the cars look to fresh and so promising....
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,487
1,572
East Coast
My V8 AMG could only distribute so much power in short bursts before it needed a costly refuel. I only got about 200 miles per tank in that car and it was slower. Our Tesla leaves home with a ~300 mile charge everyday and has much more power, almost 560 kw/over 700 hp. You also don't have the penalty of low MPG of a big gas engine when you are not diving fast.
You've missed the point. There's a reason why you never see lap times for a Tesla. It's because when you race them at high speeds, the car will go into limp mode when the temps get too high.

A Tesla can't beat a Chevy Suburban around a lap at Lime Rock.

If you don't care about putting your cars through it's paces, them fine, the Tesla is a great car.

@Relentless Power was just pointing out that he likes to race around a track, so therefore, the Tesla isn't for him.
 

EdT

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2007
2,428
1,979
Omaha, NE
EV's beat hydrogen cars hands down when you look at the full life cycle. Hydrogen is fool's gold.

But Hydrogen cars are right around the corner! I remember all sorts of technocrats and politicians saying so back in the early 70’s during the oil crisis!! Any minute now!

And I’m serious about people saying that. They really did.
[doublepost=1558472836][/doublepost]My opinion, and since I don’t know the man personally but base that opinion on second hand news accounts is that Elon is bat sh*t crazy but extremely driven and smart. Looking at what Tesla and SpaceX have done you can’t say he doesn’t eventually get where he says, he just doesn’t get there as fast as he said he would.

But on the other hand, he’s gotten there before anyone else has.
 

Seoras

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2007
758
2,002
Scotsman in New Zealand
That's interesting. Apple probably would have put some stability / discipline / production knowledge in place and Musk probably would have fled (cause he wouldn't have been able to stand not micromanaging things).

Jobs was famous for micromanaging. Read his bios.
Musk isn't interested enough in design and Apples core businesses which is a shame as if you were looking for another Jobs he's the closest fit.

I take some comfort that, if in the event of Tesla going bankrupt, Apple might very well rescue them.
The EV cannot be allowed to die. Too many want to keep the combustion engine status quo and are keen to see Tesla fail.
 

yakapo

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2008
254
235
If Apple bought Tesla, I might actually consider buying a Tesla. I imagine that when they updated their models, the fit and finish would be best in market.
 
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miniyou64

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2008
749
2,690
I never said I’d suggest another EV car.

I bought my wife a new BMW X7. Makes the ridiculously expensive Model X look like a Kia from 15 years ago.

Just one example? It has 3 zone climate control.

Front.

View attachment 838267

Rear.

View attachment 838269

Third Row.

View attachment 838268

The Model X gives you two cheap looking vents for the rear passengers, and no ability to control settings. The “limited” settings for rear passengers have to be changed via the front touchscreen. How utterly stupid.

And this is just one example. My wife’s X7 is absolutely loaded with features that no Tesla has at any price.

The X7 also has the feature of not being able to drive itself. Lol.
 

az431

Suspended
Sep 13, 2008
2,131
6,122
Portland, OR
Considering the instant torque and the smooth ride from an EV blows out any gas car I've ever driven, what other EV car would you suggest?
I've driven the Model S. Performance is better but I don't like the Model S due to the interior looking extremely dated. Would gladly choose a Model 3 over the S.

Tesla’s problem is not performance; it’s the horrible build quality and cheap materials. You can compare panels on the same car and the gaps will be off almost 1/4”. Leather stitching is uneven, interior plastic looks cheap, and the paint has the worse orange peel I’ve ever seen on a production car. Looks like a Maaco paint job.

Some people don’t notice or care about those things, but they’re there.
 

ivladster

macrumors 6502
Jun 29, 2007
480
9
Washington DC
Nah. I’ll happily keep buying V8 ‘gas guzzlers’ a long as they’re available for tracking/joy-riding, and there still is a very large segment that support my mind-set, even though I support EV and what they’re trying to strive for, it’ll be a long time before your insinuation will ever become accurate.

Yep, just wait until gas goes over $5/gallon and more
[doublepost=1558475905][/doublepost]
You've missed the point. There's a reason why you never see lap times for a Tesla. It's because when you race them at high speeds, the car will go into limp mode when the temps get too high.

A Tesla can't beat a Chevy Suburban around a lap at Lime Rock.

If you don't care about putting your cars through it's paces, them fine, the Tesla is a great car.

@Relentless Power was just pointing out that he likes to race around a track, so therefore, the Tesla isn't for him.

Did you just pulled that out of your butt? Plenty of Model 3's do racing, battery tech is changing by the months, not decades, like ICE.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-mod...se-version-beats-ferrari-closed-circuit-test/

https://electrek.co/2019/04/09/tesla-model-3-performance-nurburgring-race-track/
 
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Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,033
3,150
Not far from Boston, MA.
Assuming Elon Musk's personality does not clash with Apple's executives (which is a big if as he makes Scott Forstall look tame in comparison), I think the combined companies could benefit significantly from the synergy.

"Apple buying Tesla" would necessitate "buying out Musk." No fit required.
[doublepost=1558477785][/doublepost]
Musk: Makes billions being a great businessman

If Tesla is losing money, how would Musk be making billions? Those concepts are mutually contradictory-- unless he is stealing Tesla money to line his own pockets (which I don't believe he is).
[doublepost=1558477922][/doublepost]
The best and only scenario is if Apple bought Tesla and replaced Tim Cook with Elon Musk. Highly doubt Elon Musk would report to someone as clueless as Tim Cook. That's probably one of the major reasons the deal didn't go through.

Everyone would be better off if Tim Cook replaced Elon Musk. What Tesla could use more than anything right now is a level-headed businessman, not a sociopath such as Musk is.
[doublepost=1558478529][/doublepost]
and this story and particularly the video in it aged fast, Tesla stock has already rebounded today to 208. So much for the sky is falling scenario.

It closed at 205, and is at 201 after hours. But last week it was at 230, so that's a pretty big drop. So much for that "rebound".
 

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,057
7,320
Everyone would be better off if Tim Cook replaced Elon Musk. What Tesla could use more than anything right now is a level-headed businessman, not a sociopath such as Musk is.
Elon Musk is certainly a polarizing figure, but I have to give him credits where it's due. He's a fantastic engineer with a tenacity to start and realize his lofty visions. Starting a car company, let alone an electric one, is a near impossible feat. What he was able to accomplish with Tesla is a staggering achievement.

But I don't think he's the right leader when a company as big as Tesla enters the stage it is in right now. As polarizing figure as Steve Jobs was, he knew how to play the press and investors. Elon is the polar opposite -- he and the press (and investors) just don't seem to get along.
 
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