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New Report Says Apple Was in Talks to Use BMW i3 as Basis for Electric Car Project

easy4lif said:
This project will never lead to a product.
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not saying it will but your points to back up your claim are pretty weak

1. Cars last on average now, 10 years. No profit if your customer wont need a new car for ten years and vice versa, no profit if your car doesnt last as well.
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$25k profit in ten years is more profit than apple would make if they sold you a mbp every year for a decade.


2 no one will pay a premium for an apple car
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what corporation is best in the world at selling premium priced technology?


3. current laws forbid them from selling directly and even if they could, apple would have to set up a resonavle dealership/repairshop network. How many tesla repair shops do you see out there now.
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they did ok with getting apple stores out there.. i don't really see them not being able to sell & service cars due to some sort of logistical issue.
also, i don't think apple is aiming to compete with tesla.. probably more like honda.

4 battery tech is still pretty new. The day an electric car, loaded for a family trip, .can go from LA to NY in one charge, that will be a game changer. Currently its from LA to SF maybe.
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i don't really think people who drive a lot of long distance trips will be buying one right away.. how often do you family trip from LA to NY in a car? approx never ;)

batteries will definitely improve.. and soon.

im hoping im wrong, but i think Apple is throwing poop to a wall and seeing whata sticks.
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idk.. IF the apple car is made, they're definitely doing it at the right time.. cars are the same since 1920 or so and we're on the verge of seeing a shift.. GPS technology and non-petroleum technology.
automobiles are soon going to start the next generation of transportation regardless of apple being in the game or not.. but apple will make it seem (and rightly so in certain regards) as if they were solely responsible for the shift.
 
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freiheit said:
I would hope that a company with Apple's size and financial resources would push hydrogen fuel cell adoption instead of more battery powered cars which take half a day to charge.
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That, as well as autonomous navigation are the minimum of expectations for any Apple effort in the car arena.
Even Toyota is poised to release its 2016 Mirai FCV as soon as this fall, and Tesla will have some autopilot features on their upcoming Model S vehicles.

Additionally the legal questions re: liability as it pertains to autonomously operating vehicles on our highways, and its ramifications, should be settled by 2020 when Apple's first foray into the passenger automobile is rumored to take place.
 
Lerxt said:
The i3 is a joke. A tiny, old technology battery with minimal range.
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One more time: The talks with BMW apparently were about using carbon fiber, not the battery or the i3 design.

BMW has unique expertise in carbon fiber production and driving costs down. Before the i3, carbon was only used in exotic supercars and race cars. BMW managed to include the material in a sub-$50k car for the very first time.

Here's a YT video for people interested in BMW's carbon fiber production process:


PS: Apple is talking to other experts for battery-related stuff and is actively poaching personnel in that area as well:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/14/apple-settles-court-case-with-battery-maker-a123-systems/

BMW is buying Samsung batteries for its EVs, it would make no sense to talk to BMW regarding EV batteries.
 
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/V\acpower said:
I disagree, I think this car look cool. It has personality and still look "car-ish".

I mean, for me a "ridiculously ugly" car is something like the Nissan Cube.
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No, I'd rank this below the Cube. It's down there with the Pontiac Aztek, maybe slightly above it.
 
The i3 is a really neat car (the interior is gorgeous) and I see a bunch of them around here, but it's flawed when put against the Tesla. It's ridiculously overpriced, underpowered and has very limited battery life.
 
69Mustang said:
On topic: The i3 looks horrible. Reminds me of a pug that's been left at the pound. It's a complete 180 degrees from the i8. Hard to believe both cars come from the same company.
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Right, I'm surprised BMW would make something that looks this horrible. The rest of their cars are at least decent. Now, if they bring back the 2002 with an electric motor, I'll make it a life goal to buy one.
 
The problem is the tradional car companies (including BMW) still stryle Electric cars that could also be hybrid, engine installed. Plus with only and 86mile range why would someone want this? At least the Leaf has a 100 mile range.
 
freiheit said:
I would hope that a company with Apple's size and financial resources would push hydrogen fuel cell adoption instead of more battery powered cars which take half a day to charge.
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Renault Zoe. Charges at 43kW. Full within 30 minutes.

(Just to name a car that people can actually afford... other than a Tesla...)
 
samsung-car-876.jpg


That's a Samsung Car
 
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This will not be a cheap car. At least having bought beats they can have the subwoofer option ;) base base....
 
I like the design, but what the world needs is affordable electric cars and I can't see apple producing anything affordable!
 
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Google has so many products I can't name them all, and when it starts working on cars it's 'innovative'.

When Apple is rumoured to be working on a car project, it gets responses like 'this will be worse than the watch' and 'can't it fix its current devices first?'
 
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Apple won't be manufacturing a car but I suspect they may be establishing themselves as a frontrunner in self driving control systems with potential to be licensed to any manufacturer.
I believe there will be a boom in electric car manufacturers soon and a majority will be running Apple or Google automated control systems.
Just last week, a report of Googles car project logging around 2 million miles and every accident (14) was human error. The computer was flawless. This astounding statistic will trigger legislation demanding and giving manufacturers a deadline to be fully automated.
It will happen quikly.
 
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thekeyring said:
Google has so many products I can't name them all, and when it starts working on cars it's 'innovative'.

When Apple is rumoured to be working on a car project, it gets responses like 'this will be worse than the watch' and 'can't it fix its current devices first?'
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Maybe the people who complain about Apple have already complained about and given up on Google. At least that's where I'm at.
 
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All those Apple Car rumors made me thinking how Apple would be able to sell these things. I bet they will have their own car retailer shops (just like they set up Apple Watch stores) and also offer some kind of car loan and purchase plan. Which in itself is just a step ahead of Apple turning into a bank. :)

So come 2020 Apple will be a car retailer, an insurance company, and a bank. Wow.
 
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