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Musk's goal with Tesla all along was for an industry wide advancement of electric vehicles. Apple getting into that market only validates his success.

BINGO

There's a reason why Musk has opened up all of Tesla's charger and EV patents to the world. He's a rocket scientist first. The guy has repetitively said that his goal isn't to be the richest or biggest company, but to push technological advancements for the benefit of all mankind further. The things his companies mainly focus on are not consumer devices and toys, but Space exploration, clean energy and ecological benefits.

people who are against this sort of goals should take a serious hard look at their flawed ideologies
 
Then you laugh it off or be coy about it, you don't diss multiple Apple products and suggest that making the iPhone is as simple as Cook calling Foxconn and asking them to build it. What was that if not dissing Apple's engineers and implying that Foxconn does all the hard work.
What he said is perfectly right. He took a jab at a successful company of America making all products in China. I am not a huge fan of Tesla, but yo have to agree that Musk is a true American. While American auto companies are moving their production outside of country, he is building the whole car here. I bet Apple car will come with a sticker "designed in California, made in somewhere else". Musk is true American, Apple is not!
 
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So, it's safe to assume that we won't be seeing CarPlay compatibility on a Tesla anytime soon lol.

Seriously though, I rented a Model S for a day and it was life changing. It makes driving a gas powered car feel like riding a donkey. Alas, I am in no position to spend $80k on a car. Fingers crossed that the Model 3 is ready by late '18 when my current lease is up!
I have experienced the "insane" mode. My first experience of zero G in a car. Amazing!! I don't have a tesla though.
 
Why are electric cars more meaningful? I get a lot more done and a lot more value out of my "iToys" then I get out of my car. My car gets me from place to place (and costs me a fortune at that. It sits most of the day. Have to pay insurance and upkeep). That's it. The "iToys" let me communicate, create, monitor my health, etc. I honestly don't give a damn about Tesla or Apple cars but the notion that electric cars are meaningful in some way is silly.
Because you don't care about the sustainability of the planet.
 
What he said is perfectly right. He took a jab at a successful company of America making all products in China. I am not a huge fan of Tesla, but yo have to agree that Musk is a true American. While American auto companies are moving their production outside of country, he is building the whole car here. I bet Apple car will come with a sticker "designed in California, made in somewhere else". Musk is true American, Apple is not!
We live in a global economy. I couldn't care less where something is made. If it's more economically viable to make products in China or Mecico or wherever so be it. Let's see Tesla make a profitable care here in the USA.
 
He said it like a jerk, but he's right that electric cars are much more meaningful than iToys. Though Apple makes a lot more profit... infinite times as much profit.

Actually, to date, 'iToys' have had a vastly more meaningful impact on the world than electric cars.

Maybe electric cars will be a big thing some day, or maybe not, but so far they've been a niche player in the transportation industry compared to other technologies despite being around for over a century, and it has yet to be convincingly demonstrated that electric cars will ever dominate over other developing transportation technologies, such as synthetic fuels.

On the other hand, 'iToys' have exploded into the information and communication industries in one of the most dramatic technology revolutions ever and are a major daily influence in the lives of a vast portion of the world's population in a way that could barely even be imagined just a decade ago.

I really appreciate my vehicle, but the reality is I spend far more time using my 'iToys' than I do my vehicle, I own several 'iToys', and will no doubt own many more, but I have never owned an electric vehicle and it has yet to be convincingly demonstrated that I ever will. The same can be said for a majority of the world's population.

(Note that the impact of 'iToys' rightly includes the impact of all touch based smart phones, which have all followed the general design of the original iPhone and have essentially driven all non-iPhone-like designs out of the market.)
 
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What he said is perfectly right. He took a jab at a successful company of America making all products in China. I am not a huge fan of Tesla, but yo have to agree that Musk is a true American. While American auto companies are moving their production outside of country, he is building the whole car here. I bet Apple car will come with a sticker "designed in California, made in somewhere else". Musk is true American, Apple is not!

What is truly awesome about your "True American" statement is that he was born in South Africa, became a Canadian citizen, then finally an American citizen. This is what America has been built on, and our immigration policies should take this into consideration. Not to derail this isn't a political thread ;).

In Musk's biography, there is a chapter about watching the first Model S's leave the Tesla factory (formerly a Toyota factory that went under, American jobs lost) and how the American workers were truly proud of their product and that Americans can still innovate and make a difference.

Not to mention, there is a YouTube video at a Congressional hearing where Elon is trying to win US Airforce contracts for launch vehicles. It was awesome to see Elon take on the monopoly of United Launch Alliance on launches, especially with their Atlas V engines that are made in Russia. The contracts were for 5 years, but ULA only had enough Atlas V rockets for 2 years, and due the Ukraine sanction, they would not be able to fulfill their 5 year contract. Why are we using Russian rockets? SpaceX is like pure Wright brothers stuff.
 
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Ive used Apple stuff for 30 years so I'm something of a fan but I have to say that Musk is the man of the Hour now. I think he's only just getting started. I mean the man makes rockets for christ sake! Rockets!
 
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you know, it's possible that 'that multiple products in varying categories with zero overlap all have impact ;)

I dont think we've seen the true extent of what EV will have yet. its a fairly new market, one that has seen extreme opposition and is in a huge uphill climb. at the end of the day, its where most people should be looking towards in the future (though some people might have use cases that it doesn't apply too).

we are way too dependant on fossil fuels for our transportation needs. Especially since as many of you said your cars sit idle almost all day, and do very little but get you from POint A to Point B. These are the perfect types of examples that EV is better than Gasoline.

However, there has been strong lobbying opposition to EV by the automotive and gasoline companies to governments who are worried about losing business. There's the whole climate denial syndrome which doesn't want to accept that gasoline use isn't a great thing for our environments, and then there are those who just don't care, because "MA HORSEPOWER!"
 
Building cars is not rocket science.

I think you really underestimate the complexity and size of such a project. Did you never wonder why only a few nations have an automobile industry? If it really were as simple to build cars as you obviously think it is, many more countries would be flooding the market with their cars.

Even if you can engineer and build and mass produce a car - you also have to have a global service infrastructure for it and that is much more complex than building a simple retail chain for computers. Even a company with Apple's cash reserves could sink itself by entering this market.
 
Let’s be real, fanboys (Note: I’m one of you, too). Elon Musk’s companies are designing products that are going to benefit humankind in real ways. Considering how most people use them, Apple’s products are pricey toys. Sure, consumer electronics can aid the learning-challenged, enable artists to reach global audiences, and now monitor health markers but none of these benefits were Apple inventions. Mostly, people use these potentially powerful gadgets for entertainment, socializing and frivolous tasks (I’m talking to you, you selfie-posting narcissist). I rather have our brightest minds working on space exploration, healthcare, and energy resources than another camera or video game.
 
Point 1: Some really big assumptions there especially about electric cars replacing gasoline-powered cars. Maybe someday. Maybe not. It certainly isn't going to happen in your lifetime. And really...they're safer because they're more reliable? The quantum leap in safety will be if self-driving cars replace manually driven cars. Has nothing to do with the reliability of electric.

Actually, EVs are safer than ICEVs because of their extremely low center of gravity which gives them superior traction. It also means it's harder to get them to flip over than it is with a top-heavy ICEV. They also have much better impact safety in head-on collisions since there's no engine that can be pushed in and crush you.

Oh man come on. They didn't have a pedigree for mobile innovation either. Nor for the personal computer or tablet. They seemed to have succeeded in all of those areas regardless of pedigree. They have more money than God and can hire whomever they want and give them however much money they need to succeed in that area.

Not really the same thing, iPod, iPhone, iPad are all essentially small computers, which has always been Apple's area of expertise. Cars are completely new territory for Apple.

His drive hasn't translated into profits.

Which isn't unexpected. Musk has always been clear about his expectation that Tesla wouldn't be profitable for several years. His purpose with Tesla is greater than mere profit.

Musk cautions that cars are far more complex than smartphones and smartwatches. "You can't just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car,"

Sounds an awful lot like the Palm CEO in 2006 “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”


Also, when he made the Apple Watch analogy, I thought he was admitting that he was worried at first.

The CEO of Palm was talking about designing a product, Musk is talking about the manufacturing. There are massive logistical hurdles in mass-producing cars which not even Apple can magically skip over. Musk is right, Foxconn can't just start building cars.
 
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Yes, I was referring to traveling situations. Or you drive far to your friend's house then drive places afterwards and never get to charge. Of course, that's all because we have gas stations everywhere instead of battery swap stations, and battery swapping isn't as practical as filling up a tank of gas. Charging stations won't work so well because they take too long. Gasoline is still the most easily portable energy, unfortunately.
Do some reading.

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

80% charge in 30 minutes.
 
Apple could straight up buy Tesla if they wanted to. Maybe they should.
They actually can't. It would require $40-50B. Most of Apple's cash is outside the US. Repatriating it would require paying a 35% tax first. Theoretically yes, but practically, no.
 
What is truly awesome about your "True American" statement is that he was born in South Africa, became a Canadian citizen, then finally an American citizen. This is what America has been built on, and our immigration policies should take this into consideration. Not to derail this isn't a political thread ;).

I don't think any Americans are opposed to taking in foreign geniuses. They're opposed to taking in tens of millions of poor, unskilled, and uneducated foreigners.
 
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Musk wouldn't be talking **** if he wasn't concerned about Apple's potential car. Makes me think he might know something that the rest of us don't about Apple's plans.

Given how much staff poaching back and forth, it wouldn't be far fetched to believe that whatever Apple is working on bears some semblance to what Tesla is also working on.

As it is, Tesla vehicles are more expensive than they need to be precisely because Musk isn't "going to foxconn and having them build it", car's aren't terribly economical to make unless mass-produced, but the way cars are sold around the world is that the car company is always perilously near the edge of bankruptcy with unsold inventory. Tesla is closer to "near bankruptcy" , but has build orders for years. The losses are on the research end for the most part. Where as Ford and GM rely on their luxury brands to drop innovations in and only trickle-down those features when a competitor does it first or a government regulator forces them to.
 
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