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

Mactendo said:
Car is nice, much nicer than the most boring unrecognizable cars on the streets these days. If Apple has to make a car then it should stand out and have a distinct character.

Tesla Motors is doing it wrong, they also should design a car that looks like car from the future.
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2018 Tesla Delorean in rose gold or space gray!
 
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manu chao said:
The problem with this position is that if everybody were to follow your advice, we would never see a new car manufacturer again. Replace 'Apple' in the above with Japan, South Korea or Japan (or specific companies from those countries) and they would have never sprouted new car manufacturers. Or replace 'Apple' with Elon Musk and we would have never seen Tesla.

I am very ambivalent about the idea of Apple building a car, but I don't feel I can say with full conviction that this will end in failure.
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I guess so, but I think of car manufactures only ever making cars etc. Apple is a bit different though as it does music and TV services.
But a car is a long way from a phone. It'll certainly be interesting to see what does happen.
 
prowlmedia said:
If you live in a city a Car is stupid thing to own most of the time. Instant rental cars are the future in cities. I've got 10+ cars within 5 minute walk I could just jump into and use for a 15mins-A week.

Electric is the Future without a doubt for cars. CNG / Hydrogen are just another form of Control and taxation. Also think of the massive amount of infrastructure needed to delivery and store. Electric already exists.

I think Oil and petroleum should be kept for Aeroplanes until something else works.
Electric for Most Cars Though Obviously this isn't quite there yet. But in 5 years when you can charge your can in 10 minutes and do a 600 miles - No one will want Petrol
GNG and Hydrogen can and already are used for Buses / Trucks / utility vehicles that have specialised filing stations already.
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But electricity is generated mostly through coal. For all the hype, solar and wind aren't capable of completely replacing other power sources and won't be for several decades. Nuclear is cleaner, but has its own controversies, as does natural gas for power generation (which is inherently less efficient than just using natural gas directly in cars).
 
apolloa said:
I guess so, but I think of car manufactures only ever making cars etc. Apple is a bit different though as it does music and TV services.
But a car is a long way from a phone. It'll certainly be interesting to see what does happen.
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I wonder if buying a troubled car manufacturer might be a way for Apple to enter the market. Think back to 2009. If Apple had made an offer of $20 billion cash to take a few factories and a dealership network from GM, wouldn't the government have been silly not to take the offer? It can happen again.
 
If Apple were serious about an electric car then they would buy Tesla. Tesla are so far ahead of all the other manufacturers, it's ridiculous. BMW's entry into the electric car market is half-assed, the i3 and the stupid i8 prove that.
 
KPOM said:
But electricity is generated mostly through coal. For all the hype, solar and wind aren't capable of completely replacing other power sources and won't be for several decades. Nuclear is cleaner, but has its own controversies, as does natural gas for power generation (which is inherently less efficient than just using natural gas directly in cars).
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Renewables are increasing capacity exponentially, where the hockey stick kind of sneaks up on you. I think you'll be surprised in 15 years when most electricity comes from solar and wind.
 
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PowerBook-G5 said:
They were in talks until Jony took a look at that car...It's ridiculously ugly.
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What's ugly about it? It's one of the better looking EVs and I think it's very nice looking from most angles. The front is a bit funny, and I don't like the skinny tires. It's certainly not ugly or ridiculously ugly as you claim.
 
apolloa said:
Still find this whole car idea utterly stupid. So the only thing Apple can think of, according to rumours, to make as its next big thing is a car! Something it has no clue or experience in what so ever, a market that sells millions each year and is very well established and not new in any way, and a market with prices and technology covering all price ranges.

I personally feel if Apple do make a car, it will be out of sheer jealousy of Google's car project which is just as daft. So Apple can shout me too me too!
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This post is what kills this community for me.
 
Don't get all the nay sayers before even one blurred photo of a backdoor has appeared with somebody with long fingernails holding it!

Or, Ming Kin Djingeling issues a report note!

Anyway, Apple researching car technologies can only be good for everybody, even if they never build or sell a car.

There will be inventions or applying existing technologies in a new way. Apple has expertise in glass, metals , batteries.
It is hard to look into the future, but I can't imagine people will drive forever burning fossil fuels.

Together with new cars , new infrastructure usages will have to be developed.

Say cars broadcasting where they are driving to, linking cars going to the same places and then veering off as they arrive or leave the mini chain to go someplace else.

This is only the beginning, so why already complain boy Apple's effort from that little knowledge we have.

BTW: Them working on a car IS a still rumor.
 
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mariusignorello said:
Oh yeah. I still don't get what cellular connectivity has to do with the car's engine. That would (hopefully) be a separate component.
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I believe they were referring to the update breaking something. Though in light of the Fiat recall I would hope Apple would be smart enough to not have the same problem, but still retain ODB2 compliance.
 
Good move going to BMW (or any of the major manufacturers for that matter). The big boys have global car making brands and global sales networks. An Apple car will be a partnership like this, why go alone and just throw money away building infrastructure when you can go in with a manufacturer, for them it is just another car in the showroom.

An example would be the Mercedes A-Class, there's the standard A-Class and there's the A-Class Engineered by AMG. Why not an 'Engineered by Apple' or such like.

As for the criticism of the model, they need to start somewhere and that suits the criteria of Apple, AKA an electric car, they wouldn't go in and ask to partner on the next M3, M4 or M5!
 
arn said:
Here's the argument against Fuel Cells (and for Batteries) from one of Tesla's founders


The Hydrogen Fuel Cell bit starts at 12 minutes 57 seconds.

arn
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Thanks for the link. Very interesting presentation. Well worth watching the whole thing and not just the part about fuel cells. Particularly fascinating tidbits are the chart of recent and projected battery cost improvements and the fact that Prius had negative margins in the beginning. I wonder what kind of margins it has now.
 
bladerunner2000 said:
...so now everyone thinks Apple is some kind of expert corporation in the car industry?

Right.
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Actually yes, Apple and Google has more experience in smart car than any other car manufacturers
Maps data, security and power efficiency are highly required to devolop a smart car
 
The i3 is the smuggiest of smug mobiles. I wish they would use the i3's technology in something far less smuggy like the new 3 (F20) or 5-door (F21) 1-series.
 
KPOM said:
But electricity is generated mostly through coal. For all the hype, solar and wind aren't capable of completely replacing other power sources and won't be for several decades. Nuclear is cleaner, but has its own controversies, as does natural gas for power generation (which is inherently less efficient than just using natural gas directly in cars).
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It doesn't matter. To me the point of electric cars is not really that it's all in all greener right now. The point to me is that electric cars are just better cars than traditional cars, by a lot. They are nicer to drive, they are not as loud, they don't stink and they are basically the ultimate solution. If some day the energy problem is solved (say, fusion power becomes viable), you only have to slowly transition the power grid to that new technology and not every single car that's still driving around.
 
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