Apple Working On Project That Will 'Give Tesla a Run for its Money' Says Employee

[TallManNY]

i guess we should be expecting a samsung self-driving car by this time next year...



i doubt it would triple, but it would probably never go down in price, where the average person could eventually afford one.

Unlike, for example, the price of an iPhone which is very affordable for an average person in the U.S.

Not that Apple stuff is cheap, but most of it is priced at a level that the middle class in the U.S. have no particular problem affording. They can't buy it on whim, but a new iPhone every two years is not out of reach of most people. So a new Apple car every 10 years probably wouldn't be either.

However, I'm pretty sure Apple has no interest in making a car.

 

[Cole Slaw]

The iCar.
Designed in California.
Made in China.

No thanks, Apple.

 

[ebouwman]

An Apple self-driving car could be great. As long as it uses Google maps for navigation!

Really?

I find Google maps better for finding places but Apple maps is by far better for directions I find.

 

[siddhartha]

For more reasons than I care to post, the Model S is the best car ever made in practically every regard except style. Let Apple fix that.

I would tend to disagree-many people are drawn to the Tesla for its style. I know when we were looking, the BMW i3 was off the table almost as soon as we looked at it (not to mention impractical for us). It looks like an electric Yugo.

The Tesla Model S is totally different, and I guarantee it wouldn't be the success it is were it not a nice-looking car.

The interior aesthetic isn't for everyone (personally I think it's a bit TOO minimal) but it is quite stylish.

All that said, I agree Apple's design team would likely have a positive influence on the style.

 

[elgrecomac]

Heck I'd be happy if they fixed the iPod function in my car on my iPhone 6+!that worked well on my of iphone 5. #

 

[Macist]

The thing about electric cars is that mechanically they are so simple. I suspect this is why Apple didn't buy Tesla. What would they gain they couldn't do themselves?

What stunts electric cars' performance in the marketplace is stuffing in enough laptop batteries for acceptable range while keeping price realistic and, of course, availability of rapid charging infrastructure.

If Apple fancy making a huge splash again a car would be cool - imagine if Apple rapid charging points were placed in every city with an Apple Store? Even if it's a loss maker the brand prestige would be immense.

 

[Jay6969]

Battery tech, green energy and REAL TIME computing maybe?

I honestly think thats it, they are in a race to produce the first modular ecu's for the next generation of electric cars. Electric cars are pretty simple in that they have to manage their battery power and run the electric motor. Maybe this is a bid to create an ecu that they can sell to manufacturers. The manufacturer takes care of engineering and designs the car to plug in to the ecu. Manufacturer gets less cost through not having to develop the software and ecu and Apple get the in-car market.

This could open doors for small manufacturers to produce electric cars, maybe its what the market needs.

As much as I love Apple I aint driving round in an apple car but I would have Apple in my dash!

 

[samcraig]

I don't think Apple is working on a car.

I don't think Apple should be working on a car.

As expensive as Tesla's cars are - I don't see Apple's car being "cheaper"

While the email might have legitimately come from Apple. It could just as easily be someone having "fun."

I'm not convinced. At al..

 

[mchoffa]

Said it before and I'll say it again: Apple should buy Tesla and dominate the future of the automotive industry.

How about merge and let Musk be the visionary CEO with no preconceived boundaries while Tim goes back to what he did best under Jobs: working out all the details.

 

[bushido]

is Tesla a car manufacturer or a car navigation system? silly euro question probably

edit: oh apparently it's a car brand, the more you know. I always thought it's a navigation system like Navigon

 

[spinedoc77]

The only projects that could justify that comment are a car or a spaceship.

This. If it's anything than a car or spaceship then it wouldn't give Tesla a run for anything.

 

[Tycho24]

Heck I'd be happy if they fixed the iPod function in my car on my iPhone 6+!that worked well on my of iphone 5. ��

Lol, who exactly are you wanting to fix that??? *genuinely confused*

This is an article about Apple & Tesla... unless your car is a Tesla, I don't see how "they" (either company) would have a damn thing to do with your car manufacturer and/or stereo manufacturer supporting new hardware.

 

[Wayfarer]

$250,000 bonus on top of a 60% salary increase?! That's insane! Earning that amount of money would change my life. Would be nice bigger corporations would trickle some of that money down to lowly overworked and underpaid retail employees such as myself who get zero bonuses.

 

[SirCheese]

They're poaching all of Tesla's employee's already... might as well buy the cow.

And yet, Elon himself says this is not true.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

It will come in three colors, 4 or 6 cylinders, and seat 2 or 6

If Apple was making a gasoline powered car, I don't think anyone at Tesla would be interested. Apple has lots of battery experience and no internal combustion engine experience. There's no way they would be working on a car like that.

If Apple were working on a car of any type, I think you'd see them hiring a lot of MEs, but AFAIK, they haven't been. Unless they're working with an existing car company.

 

[Tycho24]

$250,000 bonus on top of a 60% salary increase?! That's insane! Earning that amount of money would change my life. Would be nice bigger corporations would trickle some of that money down to lowly overworked and underpaid retail employees such as myself who get zero bonuses.

Lol, no offense... but, how could one equate the skills of a very specifically disciplined engineer with unique knowledge of a particular category that there is not currently a vast field of expertise in, with a retail position in which (unless you reach the very highest levels of management), I don't think you need more than a GED & the very basest rudimentary math and language skills, coupled with the ability to smile.

 

[samcraig]

If Apple was making a gasoline powered car, I don't think anyone at Tesla would be interested. Apple has lots of battery experience and no internal combustion engine experience. There's no way they would be working on a car like that.

If Apple were working on a car of any type, I think you'd see them hiring a lot of MEs, but AFAIK, they haven't been. Unless they're working with an existing car company.

Perhaps battery experience - but I don't see them being pioneers in that space. They haven't been able to improve battery limitations. What they have done is work on software and chips that are optimized. A little different.

 

[2457282]

Apple building Cars is akin to Apple building TVs. Rumored forever, but never shows up.

Now Apple stepping it up with CarPlay to add further value is something that is more plausible.

 

[overcast]

Hydrogen fuel-cell looks more like the way to go than Tesla's electric cars, with Honda & Hyundai both developping on that path.

Creating hydrogen, and storing it, is not efficient at all. Pouring energy into water, just to split it, and make hydrogen is pointless. Yes, you can get hydrogen from hydrocarbons, but that is just another path to the inevitable depletion.

 

[Crosscreek]

and yet, you work for neither.

Retired

 

[Solomani]

People are taking this way out of context immediately thinking Apple wants to be "an automotive company".

That's about as dumb as saying that Google is trying to become "an automotive company" the day it started with its Google Street View cars (several years ago).

Apple has bazillions of dollars in cash. They have every reason to spend a little bit of that cash to try new things and dabble in some bizarre-looking experiments ….. which is how the innovation process works, by trial and error.

 

[robbyx]

Somebody is using their noodle. This is the only place where the businesses of the two companies currently overlap, even a little.

It should also be said that a leaker within Apple is so rare as to be unheard of. Anyone who doesn't think the appearance of this leak is just a little suspect, go straight to the back of the class.

Exactly. When did you last hear of an "unsolicited email" from an Apple employee about product development? This is just silly. As you rightly point out, battery technology is about the only place these two companies overlap right now. The thought of Apple getting into the car business is laughable.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

As an engineer I can say I would rather work for a visionary like Musk than a beancounter like Cook.

How is Musk a visionary? He targeted industries with massive tax incentives and/or bloated government contracts. Its not like he went out and created and/or mastered an entirely new market segments.

 

[futbalguy]

How is Musk a visionary? He targeted industries with massive tax incentives and/or bloated government contracts. Its not like he went out and created and/or mastered an entirely new market segments.

You are nuts. He took huge risks with his own money and has started 3 large companies in markets that were not mainstream. Doing anyone of those companies on its own would make some famous. He's also a visionary because of his longer term plans. He wants to improve technology and had to create his companies to do it. Unlike most CEOs he's not just concerned with profits. He could have made money in far less risky scenarios.

 

[fithian]

iCar

I think that approach has been tried. How about

APPLE CAR​