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Arizona Vehicle Testing Site Rumored to Be Used by Apple Purchased for $125 Million
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I'm sticking with Jet-A myself, at least for a few more years. It makes those trips to the grocery store really exciting!
Agreed. They should just stick to the stuff they invented, like computers, phones and watches.
Coming in late with a refined version of what already existed is what Apple has always done best. The bigger potential issue here is that it's a car, and that's not what Apple does. Will they obtain the right talent for it?
Google's (technical Alphabet but idc) side bets in non-software areas have never paid off. But I would expect Apple, with their stricter top-down structure, to be better at taking on something big and new.
Yeah, I respect Tesla a lot, but I always saw this as inevitable. These giant auto companies can catch up with Tesla's technology more quickly than Tesla can pull ahead. And they can take the loss in the meantime.
No, they expect Kia or Toyota or Hyundai to make a car for them, based on their design.
I've visited this site several times over the years as a member of the local chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers - once in the late 90s when we took a tour of the facility on buses and another time about 15 years ago when we went to drive some Vipers and other Chryslers on the site. We drove the Vipers on the large skidpad (huge paved area in the photo.
Chrysler vacated the site about 13-14 years ago. when they bought the old Ford Proving grounds in Yucca (south of Kingman) and moved all of their operations there.
As others have noted, there have traditionally been a lot of vehicle proving grounds in AZ for hot weather and mountain terrain testing. This site was 'mid-pack' in size behind GM's in Mesa and Ford's in Yucca. GM closed their Mesa facility years ago (re-purposed as an Apple iPhone screen glass facility for a very short time) and moved to a much smaller facility near Yuma. Ford closed their Yucca site, sold it to Chrysler, and moved to a smaller proving grounds just a few miles away from the old Chrysler facility with a lot fewer people and facilities.
The ring around the perimeter is of course for high speed testing and they bought a ton of property to keep spy photographers and other lookie-lous from seeing their prototypes. A rather famous incident occurred in the 1980s or early 1990s when famed automotive spy photographer Jim Dunne bought some property and a home right on the edge of the property so he could have an easier time snapping spy photos.
I think Chrysler vacated the property because of the explosive population growth in the area in the last 25 years. This used to be in the middle of nowhere - now it's surrounded by homes.
Chrysler vacated the site about 13-14 years ago. when they bought the old Ford Proving grounds in Yucca (south of Kingman) and moved all of their operations there.
As others have noted, there have traditionally been a lot of vehicle proving grounds in AZ for hot weather and mountain terrain testing. This site was 'mid-pack' in size behind GM's in Mesa and Ford's in Yucca. GM closed their Mesa facility years ago (re-purposed as an Apple iPhone screen glass facility for a very short time) and moved to a much smaller facility near Yuma. Ford closed their Yucca site, sold it to Chrysler, and moved to a smaller proving grounds just a few miles away from the old Chrysler facility with a lot fewer people and facilities.
The ring around the perimeter is of course for high speed testing and they bought a ton of property to keep spy photographers and other lookie-lous from seeing their prototypes. A rather famous incident occurred in the 1980s or early 1990s when famed automotive spy photographer Jim Dunne bought some property and a home right on the edge of the property so he could have an easier time snapping spy photos.
I think Chrysler vacated the property because of the explosive population growth in the area in the last 25 years. This used to be in the middle of nowhere - now it's surrounded by homes.
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I grew up with Wilbur Shaw, Jr (we were born the same year) and I knew his father as well as any 9 year old can know a friends parent. In October of 1954, his father (3 time winner of Indy 500 and was President of the IMS) was flying back from the Chrysler Proving grounds (in the Detroit area as I vaguely remember) along with the Speedway artist that had drawn all the winners to that date and Ray Grimes, a Cessna demo pilot, in a Cessna 195.
They were pushing to get home for Wilbur's birthday. They got into icing conditions and fell out of the sky crashing into a field in Northern Indiana.
So, yes, Chrysler has had access to proving grounds for a long time. In fact the IMS was used by Firestone to test tire designs as my father participated in those tests in open wheeled race cars of the 30s. The riding mechanic's seat held the observer who'd watched the right rear tire and when a bulge appeared, he elbow the driver. However much the car was able to slow down before the tire blew out determined the rest of Mr Toad's wild ride.
The build quality issues in American vehicles finally started improving after the foreigners opened plants in the USA and put our domestic cars to shame using the same USA labor pool the Big 3 utilized.
I see truck "mules" of all sizes all the time in the Apache Junction, Arizona area testing the Allison transmissions.
They were pushing to get home for Wilbur's birthday. They got into icing conditions and fell out of the sky crashing into a field in Northern Indiana.
So, yes, Chrysler has had access to proving grounds for a long time. In fact the IMS was used by Firestone to test tire designs as my father participated in those tests in open wheeled race cars of the 30s. The riding mechanic's seat held the observer who'd watched the right rear tire and when a bulge appeared, he elbow the driver. However much the car was able to slow down before the tire blew out determined the rest of Mr Toad's wild ride.
The build quality issues in American vehicles finally started improving after the foreigners opened plants in the USA and put our domestic cars to shame using the same USA labor pool the Big 3 utilized.
I see truck "mules" of all sizes all the time in the Apache Junction, Arizona area testing the Allison transmissions.
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thats a lot for a chunk of desert land.
I imagine people complaining about how the steering wheel is slightly uncomfortable 10 years from now.
I imagine people complaining about how the steering wheel is slightly uncomfortable 10 years from now.
LMAO. Apple makes a living dominating fields other companies created.
Chinese electric car company NIO has a really novel take on charging. You buy the car and get access to batteries as a service. They don't wait hours for their cars to charge en route, but simply swap out the batteries (that you never own). If the stations and cars were made to work together, this could be a NASCAR style speed swap and you could be out of there with a fully charged battery in under a minute. I'm sure Apple is looking at every option, but this is something I could get excited about if they decided to go this way.
I know for a fact apple owned this and I know they were autonomous vehicles. And it "was" very hush hush. But with internet nothing stays secret