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

[dixido]

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.

You know, there are cars in all parts of the world, all with different needs and preferences, and there are many, many different categories of cars. Obviously Toyota and Volkswagen have models doing well in several different categories in several different markets. Tesla is the established leader in the electronic car category in North American and Europe.

 

[Gasu E.]

Who would want an Apple branded car? The entire thing would have to be replaced after a couple of years when a new version of the OS renders it obsolete and the batteries no longer hold a charge.

At least it would be razor-thin, though. Ideal for parking in tight spaces.

"'My Mac just crashed."
"My iCar just crashed."

Not the same thing at all.

Luckily Microsoft isn't getting into the auto business... it would bring new meaning to "blue screen of death."

 

[nt5672]

Who would want an Apple branded car? The entire thing would have to be replaced after a couple of years when a new version of the OS renders it obsolete and the batteries no longer hold a charge.

At least it would be razor-thin, though. Ideal for parking in tight spaces.

And there would only be certain politically approved places where you could drive it.

 

[Mactendo]

Even if there's Foxconn for cars where Apple can order hundreds of thousands of cars then I'd bet Chinese will steal all the IP and release a clone in a year. Apple should make something really smart and advanced that can't be easily copied, sort of a genius AI in a self-driving vehicle.

 

[nt5672]

Elan, aren't you the guy who is building a 5 bazillion dollar battery plant and promising a 35 kilo-buck electric car just as the supplies of lithium hydroxide are dwindling?

Good luck with all of that.

Anyone in the battery business is planning on recycling with a technical breakthrough. The problem is that currently recycling costs some 10 times as much as new. No way Tesla can hold the battery cost promises they made as things stand today. Guess we will see.

 

[Zirel]

You know, there are cars in all parts of the world, all with different needs and preferences, and there are many, many different categories of cars. Obviously Toyota and Volkswagen have models doing well in several different categories in several different markets. Tesla is the established leader in the electronic car category in North American and Europe.

Volkswagen wasn't even a pioneer in their own country!

And Tesla presence in Europe is pretty much nil.

 

[Rogifan]

Man the jokes here keep getting lamer. Don't quit your day jobs folks.

 

[Mactendo]

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.

Flying saucers piloted by Siri

Update to the Mac Pro?

Speaking of the current product line they could turn Apple watch into a full featured health tracking device of the future and revolutionize the market.

 

[jayducharme]

Tesla is already what comes to mind when people think about electric cars, just as iPhone was the first easy to use smartphone.

But there's the key: "the first easy-to-use smartphone". There were others on the market before the iPhone; Apple simply did it better. If they indeed are working on a car, who cares if they're behind? Musk is a century behind Henry Ford. It's about what they can bring to the industry that's different from everyone else.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Fiery young upstart sees the need to rag on the incumbents to generate buzz for their own company. Apple was like that once. How fast Apple has grown and quickly the times have changed.

Tesla is 13 years old and has sold 3 different lines of cars. They have another line that they've shown that they plan to launch in 13 months, with at least another 2 lines of cars in the pipeline (Model Y and Roadster 2 - they've talked a bit about both but said neither will be revealed until after the Model 3 ships.)

Tesla is the #4 US car manufacturer (behind Ford, GM, and Chrysler.)

Apple has never so much as revealed, never mind sold, a single car.

You're very confused about who's a startup and who's an incumbent. Tesla might be a young company, but they graduated from being a startup, I think, when they started winning car of the year awards. They could completely screw up the Model X and 3 and subsist entirely off of selling the S.

Apple might be an existing company, but they have nothing in the auto industry. I wouldn't call them an incumbent.

 

[phalanges]

Apple's rumored electric car is unlikely to hit full-scale production or be ready for shipping before 2020, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Musk offered his prediction to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the Code Conference, where he claimed that Apple's ambitions, while admirable, were falling behind in a fast-paced industry.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk interviewed yesterday at the Code Conference (Image: Asa Mathat)​

"I think it's great they're doing this, and I hope it works out," said Musk. "It's just a missed opportunity. It's a couple years... they'll make a good car and be successful."

In September 2015, it was reported that Apple had spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car and given permission to leaders of the project, code-named Titan, to triple its 600-person team to facilitate development in anticipation of a possible shipping date in 2019.

Musk's comments suggest that the 2019 date might realistically indicate the point at which engineers confirm the main features of the product, and would seem to corroborate earlier rumors that fixed on a 2020 timeframe for the car's launch.

Q&A with Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the Code Conference.​

During the wide-ranging Code Conference interview, Musk also claimed Tesla's Model 3 would hit its prospective 2017 launch year, by which time his company aims to fulfill more than 325,000 pre-orders for its lower-priced model.

Musk said the car's design would be finished in about six weeks' time. "Almost all of the Model 3 design is done, and we're aiming for pencils down basically in six weeks, complete pencils down. And we're tabling -- you know, if there are ideas for future cool things, we'll have it in version 2, version 3," he said.

Musk also expressed his doubts that Google will release a car, despite its years of testing self-driving electric vehicles, and instead he expects the company to license its technology out to existing automotive manufacturers.

The bulk of Apple's car research and development is thought to be taking place in secretive buildings in Sunnyvale, California, where late night "motor noises" have been heard.

You can watch the full interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk here.

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

[doublepost=1464874858][/doublepost]"I think it's great they're doing this, and I hope it works out," said Musk. "It's just a missed opportunity. It's a couple years... they'll make a good car and be successful."

Eh? Oxymoron by a moron?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

But there's the key: "the first easy-to-use smartphone". There were others on the market before the iPhone; Apple simply did it better. If they indeed are working on a car, who cares if they're behind? Musk is a century behind Henry Ford. It's about what they can bring to the industry that's different from everyone else.

It was pretty obvious to me the numerous flaws of existing phones before the iPhone. I had zero desire for phones before the iPhone. The moment I saw the iPhone, I wanted it.

What's wrong with Tesla? The only thing left to improve on with cars beyond the Model S:
- Make the price lower.
- Make it fully autonomous.

Model 3 is doing at least the first one, and probably both.
[doublepost=1464875079][/doublepost]

[doublepost=1464874858][/doublepost]Oxymoron by a moron?

If Musk, the guy who lands rockets in the middle of an ocean and has a commercial delivery system to Mars, is a moron, and I haven't even talked about PayPal, Solar City, or Tesla yet, what are you or any of the other 7B+ people on the planet?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

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.

I agree that this will be extremely difficult for Apple to build a car for the masses unless they outsource the manufacturing to another company as a joint venture of sort. Someone mentioned that Titan would be designed as public transportation services which is likely.

The ones who clamor for Apple Cars for the masses at car dealerships are smoking Apple Crack and have no clue what the hell they're talking about. They just drool and clap at the sick 'revenge' fantasy of Apple domination going on in their heads. What they forget is that this is not the Steve Ballmer vs. Jobs era anymore.

I strongly, strongly suspect that the Apple Car is Jony's 'pet project' to show off his design acumen. I think the company did this just to make him happy and stay put. He must've looked at Elon's work and said to himself " Well, if he can do that, I wanna do this too! ". And good ol' Timmy the a$$ kisser probably was accomodating to his desires.

People are not getting it in their thick skulls that Apple's targeted 2020 date for mass vehicular sales is near impossible. They'll have to pull a Microsoft by placing the Titan project in select areas or industries just like what Microsoft did with the Surface table computer (not the Surface tablet, the big one ) in specific niche areas ( hotels, corporate boardrooms, etc ).

And even if the car comes out, Cook should be long gone by then. And Wiliams will have taken his place, probably for the worse.

 

[CJM]

Musk always feels the need to mention Apple at every interview...

Musk was directly asked by the interviewers.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Tesla is 13 years old and has sold 3 different lines of cars. They have another line that they've shown that they plan to launch in 13 months, with at least another 2 lines of cars in the pipeline (Model Y and Roadster 2 - they've talked a bit about both but said neither will be revealed until after the Model 3 ships.)

Tesla is the #4 US car manufacturer (behind Ford, GM, and Chrysler.)

Apple has never so much as revealed, never mind sold, a single car.

You're very confused about who's a startup and who's an incumbent. Tesla might be a young company, but they graduated from being a startup, I think, when they started winning car of the year awards. They could completely screw up the Model X and 3 and subsist entirely off of selling the S.

Apple might be an existing company, but they have nothing in the auto industry. I wouldn't call them an incumbent.

Actually, Apple will have a hard time keeping the car project a secret. For one thing, they would have to reveal everything to the government because strict regulations have to be followed. They don't have free reign in this nor do they have a final say. It has to be approved by the feds in order to be categorically safe to ride in.

I highly doubt it will be for the mass production but rather for the service industries.

 

[citysnaps]

"I think it's great they're doing this, and I hope it works out," said Musk. "It's just a missed opportunity. It's a couple years... they'll make a good car and be successful."

Heh... An odd sequence of thoughts. Appears he caught himself with the "It's just a missed opportunity. It's a couple years..." and needed to quickly correct serving up some lukewarm props.

Even Musk knows it's not to Tesla's benefit getting Apple's automotive development engineers riled up and even more motivated from his backhanded remark.

 

[ConnYoungy]

I think (and hope) they'll do a classic Apple and make something that already exists but do it considerably better than everyone else is

 

[BeefCake 15]

Musk was directly asked by the interviewers.

Even if he wasn't, he'll allude to it some way or another as usual.

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

Based on how late Tesla usually is, I bet the Apple Car will beat the Model 3 to market.

Even Chevy, who was supposed to be years behind Tesla, is going to beat the Model 3.

 

[RogueWarrior65]

I have come to the conclusion that self-driving technology will only appear in all-electric cars because they need the proverbial killer app to sell them. Not nearly enough people want to buy them as is because a gas-powered vehicle is so much more utilitarian. That said, self-driving in a vehicle that can run 24 hours a day with only a few minutes refueling time is one reason I would want a self-driving car. Imagine being able to drive across the country solo in a day and a half without having to stop to sleep.

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

Musk was directly asked by the interviewers.

Doesn't change the fact that Musk regularly brings up Apple in some way or another (often with a disparaging remark).

 

[mmcc]

...
I mean look CarPlay has to be literally one of the worst things ever, and why would they shift focus on such a huge project when their fundamentals such as the phones and computers are so extremely lacklustre currently? There's a reason why there is so much heat in the forums recently because both the software and hardware aren't living up to the legacy, I mean everything they've been releasing recently feels unfinished.

...

I'm sure they'll make something great, but I'm sure it'll be the next Apple Watch and not the next iPhone...
They really need to shift their priorities.

The last few years Apple has shifted the priority from software to hardware. The iPhone is the bulk of the revenue and profits.

It is crazy ironic, but Apple has succeeded in devaluing software to zero. Software is now expected to be free or 99 cents, including operating systems.

 

[Guda.FL]

My thought is...It might be the new generation or tech sector workers who might purchase this car. the rest of the 99% of the working population will continue to purchase the civic and corollas. Being in this industry It takes decades to establish production and customer base for auto products. it is a 5-7 year loan commitment not a phone you can sell on eBay.

But like some people I know they will go into debt just to have an apple product, i.e.

 

[mpkayeuk]

Jags are still considered a bit "naff" in the UK.

This is literally hilarious! Since the XF, new XK, F-Type and now the F-Pace, Evoque, new Range Rover Sport, new Freelander, new Defender and new Range Rover, Jaguar Land Rover are far from considered naff, they are all extremely desirable cars with significant year on year production increases. I almost forgot the XE, the car the automotive press consistently rates above the BMW 3 series.

You must be completely blind to not have noticed the number of XFs and Evoques on the road in the UK.
[doublepost=1464876842][/doublepost]

Apple might be an existing company, but they have nothing in the auto industry. I wouldn't call them an incumbent.

Apple had nothing in the telecoms industry before the iPhone. QED.

 

[CheesePuff]

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.

You realize Tesla S is rated as the safest passenger sedan and was a newbie car manufacturer?