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Tesla CEO Expects No Apple Car Before 2020, Calls it 'Missed Opportunity'

I don't get the blind faith in a CEO that's failed to launch a successful innovative product or significantly improve any product under his watch being able to make a car.

A car is infinitely more complex than consumer electronics. And even if Apple gets into it, you have to see them being a niche player like Tesla. This isn't a smartphone or tablet where you are trying to market to the masses...the cost/scale won't be there in the next 10 years.

The one angle that did make sense was Apple pushing for autonomous cars for taxi/delivery service. That is a HUGE potential industry. Fewer buyers/customers - more streamlined expectations - cars to get people from point A to B all day within a single city.

Apple has cash to burn so they will buy up resources and drive technology. But I have a hard time seeing them be a player in the automotive industry - even to Tesla's level - any time soon.
 
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2020 for the Space Grey and Silver model. 80MPH and 100 miles per charge.
2025 for the Rose Gold. 100MPH and 160 miles per charge.
 
I can't see myself ever owning a car made by apple, i just couldn't trust or cope with all the software patches and bugs that would come with the package.
 
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How is Apple keeping Titan secret?! The employees must be going out, meeting friends, having beers after work. How do they describe what they do when asked? 'I work at Apple on special projects'?

Even if they never breath a word to others, even as a group they must be conspicuous in the neighbourhood coffee shops etc.

Or are they not allowed to leave the Titan compound ?
 
garnerx said:
A phone made more sense because that's where they saw the computer market was heading. Cars, though... It just seems very odd, unless they bought an established car brand and used that. Jaguar or something prestigious.
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Not much difference. Remember, we are talking about cars that would be auto-piloted, electric with a computer brain. So I think it makes lot of sense for Apple to do this.
 
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Dilster3k said:
Why are they making a car? Just why?
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I know, it's not like everyone's really dissatisfied with their cars (like we were with pre-iphone smartphones)

They'd be better starting an airline. Use all their design smarts and engineering ingenuity to improve today's miserable flying experience. Air travel could use a makeover.
 
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mantan said:
The one angle that did make sense was Apple pushing for autonomous cars for taxi/delivery service. That is a HUGE potential industry. Fewer buyers/customers - more streamlined expectations - cars to get people from point A to B all day within a single city.
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Ooooh.. The backlash from this would be incredible.
 
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unregbaron said:
How is Apple keeping Titan secret?! The employees must be going out, meeting friends, having beers after work. How do they describe what they do when asked? 'I work at Apple on special projects'?

Even if they never breath a word to others, even as a group they must be conspicuous in the neighbourhood coffee shops etc.

Or are they not allowed to leave the Titan compound ?
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Same way they do with everything. A stack of NDA's and absolutely no mention of Apple anything outside of the office.
 
dixido said:
I agree with Musk that this is a missed opportunity. Being first is key in marketing. Tesla is already what comes to mind when people think about electric cars, just as iPhone was the first easy to use smartphone.
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Uhh, no. Being first is not the key. Being the best is the key. Samsung routinely comes out with gimmic tech just to say they were first, and when Apple releases something similar but far superior after perfecting said tech, companies like Samsung scream, "we had that first! Grab your pitchforks! Sue them... SUE THEM!" As a consumer I'd much rather spend my money on a product from a company that took its time developing a well thoughtout user experience v. some product rushed to market for the sake of being first. Blackberry was really the first smartphone but their UI sucked. Everyone that used one knew this but they were the only game in town and for those of us forced to use one we just dealt with it. Meanwhile apple also knew this, paid more attention to blackberry users than RIM did, took advantage, and the rest is history.
 
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CFreymarc said:
Look at the archive here from ten years ago. The same thing was said of an Apple branded phone.
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Considers time zone, for central Europe, it is the middle of the day right now.
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No thanks. I might like their computers and phones, (not that much difference between the two), but I don’t like the idea of Apple branded cars or clothes.
Just like I wouldn’t necessarily like an Armani computer just because he makes great/premium clothes. Mercedes washing machine? Probably not. Gordon Ramsey Power drill? Pass.
Mindsets like this mean it probably won’t be as popular as you think.
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garnerx said:
A phone made more sense because that's where they saw the computer market was heading. Cars, though... It just seems very odd, unless they bought an established car brand and used that. Jaguar or something prestigious.
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But this would be best for them.
 
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Must be expensive to ship individual 2-ton cars... Made so thin that no anorexic could fit in and whose battery is impossible to un-glue and replace, making the whole thing landfill fodder just so we buy another one willy nilly because that happily hidden market increases profit, ecology be damned.

Maybe this is about a component for car makers that buy Apple's product?
 
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Normally I can't stand the obligatory "Steve this, Steve that" posts, but whenever Elon speaks about Apple I wish Jobs was still around to fire back.
 
Shexo said:
I think he's going to regret that statement in the coming years :)
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like he also Elon Musk's in-exsenisve reliable rocket SpaceX?

Maybe he's just saying all this because HE wants to be the only one with a self driving car first, so by convincing the media Apple and Google won't get thee, he may get his change.
 
dixido said:
I agree with Musk that this is a missed opportunity. Being first is key in marketing. Tesla is already what comes to mind when people think about electric cars, just as iPhone was the first easy to use smartphone.
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The largest car manufacturers in the world are Toyota or Volkswagen, depending on the year.

They were first in what, exactly? When they started making cars, the market was already pretty mature.

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Poor Elon Musk. He should start reimbursing more than half of people who preordered the model 3, because there's no way he can get the cars ready in time.
 
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hortod1 said:
Uhh, no. Being first is not the key. Being the best is the key. Samsung routinely comes out with gimmic tech just to say they were first, and when Apple releases something similar but far superior after perfecting said tech, companies like Samsung scream, "we had that first! Grab your pitchforks! Sue them... SUE THEM!" As a consumer I'd much rather spend my money on a product from a company that took its time developing a well thoughtout user experience v. some product rushed to market for the sake of being first. Blackberry was really the first smartphone but their UI sucked. Everyone that used one knew this but they were the only game in town and for those of us forced to use one we just dealt with it. Meanwhile apple also knew this, paid more attention to blackberry users than RIM did, took advantage, and the rest is history.
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I'm not talking about being first with some gimmicky feature á la Samsung, I'm talking about being the first established brand within a certain category. Like you said, Blackberry came out before iPhone, but iPhone went for a different category; easy to use smartphones.

Do you think Apple can leapfrog Tesla in terms of ease to use, like they did with Blackberry? I think not. Apple will try to fight in the same category and will thus never become the leader.
 
The AppleCar will be expensive enough that only the top 2% of the population will be able to afford it.
 
Steve Ballmer? Is that you? ... oh, it's just eLawn Musty.

These CEOs should really worry more over their own efforts than propagandize what others might be doing or are doing. Microsoft's laughed at the iPhone and laughed themselves into complacency. Now eLawn is scoffing at Apple's efforts, probably indicating his own problems or lethargy in a market he believed he owned lock-stock-n-barrel.
 
I'm curious what could be the next Apple product after the car?.. Or the one instead of Apple car...
 
JaySoul said:
Nobody in their right mind would buy a pure Apple car as soon as 2020. I could see them doing OK after a few iterations with refinement but a car needs to be safe, first and foremost, and after that then yes tech will become more important.

I wouldn't trust any complete newbie car manufacturer, it's a hard industry.
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The $7500 federal EV tax credit applies to the first 200,000 vehicles, so there would be incentive to buy early. By 2020, Tesla will be out of credits.
 
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