Elon Musk Says Apple's Electric Car Project is an 'Open Secret'

[kingtj]

I think it really depends. If electric cars suddenly get bought in mass quantities, that means something changed (like the sticker price) enough to allow that to happen. At that point, gas might not remain as attractive an option, as gas stations might start disappearing. (They need a lot of daily sales to make a profit since they sell based on volume. They might make more money converting into high speed charging stations.)

If for some reason people started to run out and buy electric cars all of the sudden, the price of gas would fall even lower which would push people towards gas engines anyway.. Tesla can't even turn a profit with them.

 

[ke-iron]

So in other words, don't buy first Gen Apple Car. For some reason I find this hilarious. I won't buy a first Gen Apple product ever again since I was burned on the iPad.

I'm sure Apple will have all the hardware built in and like Tesla, enable them with software updates.

 

[gugy]

Elon is the visionary that Apple sorely lacks to bring this project to life... You can't just go to Foxconn and tell them to assemble you a car by following this blueprint. As an Apple shareholder, I wish they would focus their efforts elsewhere.

Yeah, I agreed. I am afraid Apple is spreading themselves too thin. Too many industries.
I wished they would put focus on hardware and software primarily to MacOS and iOS. I don't know, I am a professional designer and I live using Mac Desktops and iOS devices. Car sounds fun but there is Tesla and even if Apple make a car a cool as Tesla's, it won't be too much of departure from it AFAIK at this point.

With that said where is a Mac Pro update and TB displays? ;-)

 

[Stella]

Sure.

I'm as green as can be when it comes to the environment. Nothing I want more than clean air and the end of pollution. But climate change and being green are two separate things. The first is a political agenda; the second is a valid position.

We should feel blessed if we get warm; more CO2=more plants=moreO2.

It's an ice age that we should be fearful of. Crop failure would lead to mass starvation.
[doublepost=1452559957][/doublepost]

Too much immigration; too many people.

We need to chuck about 10 million people out of this sceptred isle.

Lol - more like too many cars on the road. Public transit not good enough.

You sound like Nigel farage - he blamed immigrants for being late to a meeting.

 

[maceric]

So in other words, don't buy first Gen Apple Car. For some reason I find this hilarious. I won't buy a first Gen Apple product ever again since I was burned on the iPad.

I was burned by my Apple Watch Sport. Retuned it after the 3rd replacement still didn't work (heart rate monitor is poor and inconsistent) But a car is about human safety. I can't imagine that Apple would release a car that would fail as some of their other products. It's a serious endeavor.

 

[robotica]

Best part of the article

"Jeff who?"

 

[freeskier93]

Tesla's Gigafactory will be online in the foreseeable future. Once online, it will dramatically reduce the cost of battery production. Musk has been successful in everything that he has done.. He has not only been successful, but overwhelmingly so. This is a man who has created a private company that is building reusable rockets for our space program. He is in a different league than most.

Within 3-5 years, once electric vehicles drop down to under 35,000 dollars, who is going to buy a gasoline powered engine vehicle? Tesla is already at the forefront, and the market leader, of current electric vehicles on the road and seems to also be ahead of the curve when it comes to autonomous driving. Hard to believe that anyone still thinks Tesla is going to go belly up.. Their is too much infrastructure that has been developed, from the factories building the vehicles to the Gigafactory which has the potential to dramatically change the production of batteries worldwide.

Good news everyone! We don't need to wait 3-5 years, Chevy just beat Tesla to the punch and the Bolt will be out by the end of the year for $33k (after rebates) and have a range of 200 miles.

 

[Soccertess]

Not as enthusiastic of Apple producing a car as I once was. Seeing the products coming out of Tim's Apple has been underwhelming to say the least.

Elon is the CEO that Apple needs, but Elon is changing the world with Spacex and Tesla. Tesla and Apple are amazing companies, but only one of those CEOs is an amazing leader.

 

[Pakaku]

They sure won't sell if gas prices stay the way they are. Although we should have moved away from petroleum years ago and moved on to different cleaner forms of energy.

But that will never happen, not on this planet and with the people in charge $$$

Then it's probably a good thing if Apple tries to make a car. Because if they actually are the massive trend-setter people think they are, then a move from Apple into the electric-car business will have all the copy-cats start considering electric too.

It's also nice that Tesla is totally open to competitors.

 

[usamaah]

Sure.

I'm as green as can be when it comes to the environment. Nothing I want more than clean air and the end of pollution. But climate change and being green are two separate things. The first is a political agenda; the second is a valid position.

We should feel blessed if we get warm; more CO2=more plants=moreO2.

It's an ice age that we should be fearful of. Crop failure would lead to mass starvation.

I couldn't help it, I bit.

No doubt an ice age would be catastrophic.

More CO2 does not automatically mean more plants. First, plants use CO2 and sun energy to store energy, but they also break down the carbon later to provide energy for themselves, and in the process use oxygen. That's respiration, and plants do it as well. Second, there's always a limiting component and if there's abundant CO2 then some other required nutrient willl become the limiting factor (say Nitrogen). So no, more CO2 does not mean we can stand to benefit from more plant matter creating more O2 (especially since they also use that O2).

Like many things, a balance is best. Becoming warmer is dangerous, in fact. Just like getting colder is. Oceans are rising, organisms are suffocating underwater, as CO2 traps heat and temperature warms.

I had a classmate who would make the same arguments you make in this thread. I won't disagree that an ice age is bad, but I don't think it's presumptuous or pompous of us to think we can have a significant negative global impact. The weather is related to many, many factors; some of which are entirely beyond our control such as location, distance of the Earth from the sun, but then there are other components that can influence weather that are under our influence.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

We simply don't have good enough battery technology,

Right now, Teslas can do 300 miles on a single charge, which is more than enough to be considered great range, not to mention their super chargers. By the time the Apple car comes out, the range will be much better.

never mind the impossible strain it would put on the grid if electric cars were to somehow become mass market.

That has been disproven. Most people will charge at night, when the grid is most free. In the case of Tesla, you can even set the charge time so you'll get the cheapest electricity.

 

[bbeagle]

So in other words, don't buy first Gen Apple Car. For some reason I find this hilarious. I won't buy a first Gen Apple product ever again since I was burned on the iPad.

How so? I bought the iPad 1 in 2010, and used it until 2014, when I bought an iPad Air (iPad 5) to replace it. Used it every day from 2010-2014, and I loved it. It became a little slow later in life, but it was still good.

 

[blakethebeast10]

Electric cars are still not selling as well as expected and won't even make a dent in the market for many years to come.

They're pretty well selling as well as expected considering that there hasn't been a compelling mass market (affordable) car to hit the market yet. So far the've all either been crippled by low range, ugly, or expensive. This will change rapidly starting next year with the model III, chevy bolt, etc. Driverless electric cars using a system like UBER will be the new reality within 15 years.

 

[opfreak]

so will it plug in from the bottom? and you have to tip it over to reach?

 

[Fenez]

They're pretty well selling as well as expected considering that there hasn't been a compelling mass market (affordable) car to hit the market yet. So far the've all either been crippled by low range, ugly, or expensive. This will change rapidly starting next year with the model III, chevy bolt, etc. Driverless electric cars using a system like UBER will be the new reality within 15 years.

While sales should pick up next year....the sales figures are way off of what was expected... Way way off....everyone talking about driverless cars i s cool and interesting but much like electric cars I think it won't be for many years before it makes an impact on the driving world.

 

[Moof1904]

...never mind the impossible strain it would put on the grid if electric cars were to somehow become mass market.


Have you noticed the massive power lines that feed an oil refinery? The electricity required just to refine a single gallon of gasoline is enough to power my electric car for more than 20 miles. Not to mention that most EV users charge at night, when the grid demands are much lower.

 

[hogo]

elon gets a little more respectful with every interview when it comes to the apple car. that means he does feel a little heat However, his space x tech is the real game changer.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

the impossible strain it would put on the grid if electric cars were to somehow become mass market.

You're quite unaware of the strain that gasoline puts on our electric system, aren't you?

It takes 6 kWh of electricity to produce one gallon of gasoline. 6 kWh of energy is enough to drive an electric car 20 miles, aka, as much as a gallon of gas.

So we can easily supply the electricity for electric cars by just shifting electricity away from the oil refineries, as demand for gas falls, and to car charging stations.
[doublepost=1452570308][/doublepost]

Car enthusiasts can't do anything with Tesla's cars.

Maybe not, but tech enthusiasts can. There's a Tesla API. Example script you can write:

Get GPS coordinates of car.
Look up weather for GPS coordinates.
If it'll rain and the sunroof is open, close it.

Another example:
Is it hot in the car?
Is the sunroof closed?
Crack it to vent the heat.

A final one:
Is the car at home?
Is it not plugged in?
Send a push notification to my phone reminding me to plug it in.

If my car (a 2004 Buick) broke down tomorrow, I'd pull the trigger and get a Tesla Model S. I'm currently holding out and planning for the Model 3 though... it'll put a lot less stress on my budget.

 

[TallManNY]

Good news everyone! We don't need to wait 3-5 years, Chevy just beat Tesla to the punch and the Bolt will be out by the end of the year for $33k (after rebates) and have a range of 200 miles.

And look like crapp, but I get your point. Electric cars have advantages in acceleration over internal combustion engine. Once cost comes down (which seems like it is about to happen), gas cars are going to struggle to compete. Low gas prices are going to help. They will help a lot. But still there are just limitations. The electric cars will be faster, handle better and be cheaper to drive "per mile". Once they start capturing the part of the market of people who commute 30 to 40 miles to work each day, they are really going to get going. Those are the folks that wear out their cars and buy another one every four or five years. Those are the "high value" customers. Tesla already is capturing the folks who like cars as a driving toy.

 

[unplugme71]

If Apple makes a $50K car, competitors will make a $40K car, to call the Apple's car "expensive".

If Apple makes a $30K car, competitors will make a $20K car, to call the Apple's car "expensive".

If Apple makes a $30K car, competitors will make a $20K car, to call the Apple's car "expensive".

If Apple makes a $10K car, competitors will make a $5K car, to call the Apple's car "expensive".

All competitors will use Google's self-driving systems, that will bomb you with Ads, and will "suggest" you to go to destinations that advertise with Google, and use auto-insurance that will "partner with Google".

I'd be more worried of Amazons Fire Car.

 

[Brandhouse]

Everything I read about Musk and what Apple are doing it sounds like he believes that only Tesla own the market for electric cars and anyone else trying to do it is bad. Grow up Musk! Innovation doesn't come by one player in the market place!

 

[StoneJack]

Musk is amazing entrepreneur. Maybe someday, after Cook and his successor retire, Musk will become Apple CEO.

 

[RedWing512]

Adapted from an old joke, but frighteningly possible:

***SNIP***

Shut this thing down. You, my friend, have won this thread.

 

[Zirel]

Probably the dumbest post i've seen in a while. You use an asinine straw man scenario to defend Apple's inarguably high prices.

Is it?

iPhone is a top-of-the-range phone, and for all I remember, the top-of-the-range always had similar prices to the current iPhone and competitors.

The difference is that people don't buy competitors, so they have to lower their price, and Apple doesn't.

 

[nfl46]

Awe. A little competition won't hurt anyone, Musk.