Apple is designing a fully autonomous vehicle. Similar to Google's original design with no steering wheel but by the time Apple's hits the road (2020ish) the mandate for human intervention capability will no longer be there.
They will outsource the manufacturing to Tesla and Tesla will share in the battery advances made by Apple and manufacture the Apple/Tesla batteries at the new Gigafactory. Apple will invest in installing Tesla compatible charging stations throughout the country, and eventually the world.
Apple and Tesla will continue to invest in solar power throughout the country Apple will control this new media viewing room called the iTransporter which will be fully connected to the internets and media capable.
Then why doesn't Appe stop the insanity? They could shut everybody up in seconds with a "leak" to WSJ or Re/Code or whoever smacking down these rumors. Why is Apple allowing them to persist?
No company comments on rumors. I am sure you must have heard that many times. Gene Munster has been spreading rumor about Apple TV before there was Apple Watch came out. The above rumor about Smart Homes is something I created as sarcasm to this post. The point being that such rumors are strictly for entertainment and generating clicks!
No company comments on rumors. I am sure you must have heard that many times. Gene Munster has been spreading rumor about Apple TV before there was Apple Watch came out. The above rumor about Smart Homes is something I created as sarcasm to this post. The point being that such rumors are strictly for entertainment and generating clicks!
They don't have to officially comment. They can use the "people familiar with the matter" line.
When you have a family to run, you need every minute in the day. You aren't going to wait for a bus to take the kids to school or to day care, to the dentist, grocery shopping, pick up the dry cleaning, take them to violin practice, volunteer at school, back and forth with errands all day and then make it home to cook dinner. A mom can drive around town all day long and not exceed 100 miles.
The average mileage per day in the US by 35 - 54 year olds (the highest average group) is less than 53.
I think the solution is in the business model, not in the technology.
Electric cars basically suck to own as an individual. But they start to make more sense if you're running a car service. I think that's what Apple might do -- they won't sell cars, they'll sell transportation. And that transportation will be provided by Apple-designed electric cars, manufactured by a contractor, and deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost
I wish them well.
Until they can overcome the problems inherent to electric cars, they won't achieve the extensive market they have with their mobile devices.
Some problems with electric cars:
1. Total mileage is very limited compared to fossil fuels. You need to be able to do 400 or 500 miles on a charge.
2. Charging takes ages. When you can charge in three minutes, it'll be comparable to gas.
3. The battery is extremely heavy and bulky. This means that boots are tiny.
4. The battery has to be replaced frequently at great expense and time. No such problem with gas.
5. Where do you charge your car? In the UK, at least, this is very limited. Forget charging at home. A large proportion of people live in apartments and leave their car on the street. To my mind, this is the biggest obstacle to electric cars—there is no infrastructure, nor any easy way to solve that problem. This is why charging times need to come down to five minutes or fewer.
6. Electric cars are much more expensive than normal ones. Total overall lifetime cost, as well as initial cost, is still much higher than for equivalent gas cars. There is virtually no market for them, save for small city cars, though they have become less visible in London in the past few years.
One would expect Apple to build the most attractive electric car that you could wish for. If anyone can make them popular, they surely can. However, transforming the infrastructure is a monumental undertaking that is out of their hands. The only way to solve the charge problem, to my mind, is to hugely reduce the charge time. It sounds, from the recent rumours, that Apple are concentrating on battery tech.
I'd love an electric Apple Car; I guess Cook and Ive like a challenge!
This is from the New Yorker profile on Jony Ive. It's towards the very end when he's touring the new Apple campus and discussing his involvement with it.
[QUOTE]He was a few days from starting a three-week vacation, the longest of his career. The past year had been “the most difficult” he’d experienced since joining Apple, he said later that day, explaining that the weariness I’d sometimes seen wasn’t typical. Since our previous meeting, he’d had pneumonia. “I just burnt myself into not being very well,” he said.[/QUOTE]
Are we really supposed to believe Ive has the bandwidth mentally or physically to help bring a car to market in 5 years? That's nuts.
I agree there are a lot of interesting hires, but it all points to battery improvements and work being done on Car Play integration, IMO.
I'd be very interested to be proven wrong AND I'd be one of the first in line to buy an Apple Car if such a thing were to exist. :D
While I think these rumors are off the charts now, 9to5Mac's report on some of the people Apple has hired or poached from within to work on this project all point to hardware. The internal employees are Mac and iPhone mechanical engineers. Bryan Chaffin from the Mac Observer who was one of the first to push this rumor said the people Apple has been poaching from Tesla and elsewhere are people that would be involved in building s car. So assuming any of these rumors are accurate (and I'm skeptical) it sure seems Apple's ambitions go way beyond carplay.
1-High end cars have margins north of 30% 2.. It takes 1 billion to develope a new car model. It takes another billion to to produce and take to market (incured in 4-5 years) ...Apple spent aprox 4 billion on R&D last year. Apple spen 3 billion for beats .......(..even if the car never makes it to market, what apple learns from the venture will make it worth while , let alone if they really comeup with some cool disruptive product ) 2- how did i phone change the world ?.. Or the ipad or the ipod!? They sure have changed my life dramatically! Are u under the impression that the automobile or transportation technology as matured to a point where no significant changes can happen.. Changes that will affect how u experience your daily transportation?
Until they can overcome the problems inherent to electric cars, they won't achieve the extensive market they have with their mobile devices.
Some problems with electric cars:
1. Total mileage is very limited compared to fossil fuels. You need to be able to do 400 or 500 miles on a charge.
2. Charging takes ages. When you can charge in three minutes, it'll be comparable to gas.
3. The battery is extremely heavy and bulky. This means that boots are tiny.
4. The battery has to be replaced frequently at great expense and time. No such problem with gas.
5. Where do you charge your car? In the UK, at least, this is very limited. Forget charging at home. A large proportion of people live in apartments and leave their car on the street. To my mind, this is the biggest obstacle to electric cars—there is no infrastructure, nor any easy way to solve that problem. This is why charging times need to come down to five minutes or fewer.
6. Electric cars are much more expensive than normal ones. Total overall lifetime cost, as well as initial cost, is still much higher than for equivalent gas cars. There is virtually no market for them, save for small city cars, though they have become less visible in London in the past few years.
One would expect Apple to build the most attractive electric car that you could wish for. If anyone can make them popular, they surely can. However, transforming the infrastructure is a monumental undertaking that is out of their hands. The only way to solve the charge problem, to my mind, is to hugely reduce the charge time. It sounds, from the recent rumours, that Apple are concentrating on battery tech.
I'd love an electric Apple Car; I guess Cook and Ive like a challenge!
Tesla seems doing fine against all odds u mentioned ....
Did you know that in japan they have more electric car charge stations than gas stations already !
CBRE reports that Apple is going into home building. After their new space ship campus is finish building in 2016, they are getting into building smart homes starting in 2017. They will be using design and technology from their new campus and apply it to these new homes. The home will be connected wirelessly to the mother ship in Cupertino, CA.
Above rumor has more legs than the Apple Car.
The houses will be round. The backyard will be the donut hole in the middle. Parking will be underground.
I have my doubts. Apple's billions would be consumed in no time. Something doesn't seem right.
Apple's margins are too big for them to build a car. They can't sell a car at 40% margin. I would cost $100,000 like a Tesla.
How is building an electric car "changing the world"?
1-High end cars have margins north of 30%
2.. It takes 1 billion to develope a new car model. It takes another billion to to produce and take to market (incured in 4-5 years) ...Apple spent aprox 4 billion on R&D last year. Apple spen 3 billion for beats .......(..even if the car never makes it to market, what apple learns from the venture will make it worth while , let alone if they really comeup with some cool disruptive product )
2- how did i phone change the world ?.. Or the ipad or the ipod!? They sure have changed my life dramatically!
Are u under the impression that the automobile or transportation technology as matured to a point where no significant changes can happen.. Changes that will affect how u experience your daily transportation?
Well Tim Cook is obsessed with global warming and Al Gore is on the Board so maybe they thing it would change the world.
Then Tim Cook will be the guy who changes Apple's entire business model. Apple doesn't do cheap, unless they can still make a sizable margin. So it's either going to be a premium luxury vehicle servicing a niche market who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill, or the first product Apple loses money on (for people who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill).
I can only imagine it will look like the DeLorean from Back To The Future though ... an all aluminum and glass body.
Then why doesn't Appe stop the insanity? They could shut everybody up in seconds with a "leak" to WSJ or Re/Code or whoever smacking down these rumors. Why is Apple allowing them to persist?
You're asking why Apple doesn't comment on rumours that are not true. Think about that a moment.
Then Tim Cook will be the guy who changes Apple's entire business model. Apple doesn't do cheap, unless they can still make a sizable margin. So it's either going to be a premium luxury vehicle servicing a niche market who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill, or the first product Apple loses money on (for people who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill).
I can only imagine it will look like the DeLorean from Back To The Future though ... an all aluminum and glass body.
They will build a Shuffle car. Cheap. No interface but one button to pause and start. You will control the car with your iPhone. Self driving. There. Affordable.
Comments
They will outsource the manufacturing to Tesla and Tesla will share in the battery advances made by Apple and manufacture the Apple/Tesla batteries at the new Gigafactory. Apple will invest in installing Tesla compatible charging stations throughout the country, and eventually the world.
Apple and Tesla will continue to invest in solar power throughout the country
Apple will control this new media viewing room called the iTransporter which will be fully connected to the internets and media capable.
Apple will control the world!
I have my doubts. Apple's billions would be consumed in no time. Something doesn't seem right.
Apple's margins are too big for them to build a car. They can't sell a car at 40% margin. I would cost $100,000 like a Tesla.
How is building an electric car "changing the world"?
Then why doesn't Appe stop the insanity? They could shut everybody up in seconds with a "leak" to WSJ or Re/Code or whoever smacking down these rumors. Why is Apple allowing them to persist?
No company comments on rumors. I am sure you must have heard that many times. Gene Munster has been spreading rumor about Apple TV before there was Apple Watch came out. The above rumor about Smart Homes is something I created as sarcasm to this post. The point being that such rumors are strictly for entertainment and generating clicks!
They don't have to officially comment. They can use the "people familiar with the matter" line.
Well Tim Cook is obsessed with global warming and Al Gore is on the Board so maybe they thing it would change the world.
Did you know that in japan they have more electric car charge stations than gas stations already !
You were bound to get it wrong eventually Spam. Too much smoke here.
I agree there are a lot of interesting hires, but it all points to battery improvements and work being done on Car Play integration, IMO.
I'd be very interested to be proven wrong AND I'd be one of the first in line to buy an Apple Car if such a thing were to exist.
Obviously you don't know any soccer moms.
When you have a family to run, you need every minute in the day. You aren't going to wait for a bus to take the kids to school or to day care, to the dentist, grocery shopping, pick up the dry cleaning, take them to violin practice, volunteer at school, back and forth with errands all day and then make it home to cook dinner. A mom can drive around town all day long and not exceed 100 miles.
The average mileage per day in the US by 35 - 54 year olds (the highest average group) is less than 53.
I think the solution is in the business model, not in the technology.
Electric cars basically suck to own as an individual. But they start to make more sense if you're running a car service. I think that's what Apple might do -- they won't sell cars, they'll sell transportation. And that transportation will be provided by Apple-designed electric cars, manufactured by a contractor, and deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem.
Quote:
I wish them well.
Until they can overcome the problems inherent to electric cars, they won't achieve the extensive market they have with their mobile devices.
Some problems with electric cars:
1. Total mileage is very limited compared to fossil fuels. You need to be able to do 400 or 500 miles on a charge.
2. Charging takes ages. When you can charge in three minutes, it'll be comparable to gas.
3. The battery is extremely heavy and bulky. This means that boots are tiny.
4. The battery has to be replaced frequently at great expense and time. No such problem with gas.
5. Where do you charge your car? In the UK, at least, this is very limited. Forget charging at home. A large proportion of people live in apartments and leave their car on the street. To my mind, this is the biggest obstacle to electric cars—there is no infrastructure, nor any easy way to solve that problem. This is why charging times need to come down to five minutes or fewer.
6. Electric cars are much more expensive than normal ones. Total overall lifetime cost, as well as initial cost, is still much higher than for equivalent gas cars. There is virtually no market for them, save for small city cars, though they have become less visible in London in the past few years.
One would expect Apple to build the most attractive electric car that you could wish for. If anyone can make them popular, they surely can. However, transforming the infrastructure is a monumental undertaking that is out of their hands. The only way to solve the charge problem, to my mind, is to hugely reduce the charge time. It sounds, from the recent rumours, that Apple are concentrating on battery tech.
I'd love an electric Apple Car; I guess Cook and Ive like a challenge!
[QUOTE]He was a few days from starting a three-week vacation, the longest of his career. The past year had been “the most difficult” he’d experienced since joining Apple, he said later that day, explaining that the weariness I’d sometimes seen wasn’t typical. Since our previous meeting, he’d had pneumonia. “I just burnt myself into not being very well,” he said.[/QUOTE]
Are we really supposed to believe Ive has the bandwidth mentally or physically to help bring a car to market in 5 years? That's nuts.
What if they can make an electric car that only need to charge once a week? That will be so brilliant.
They can't even make a watch that does that.
While I think these rumors are off the charts now, 9to5Mac's report on some of the people Apple has hired or poached from within to work on this project all point to hardware. The internal employees are Mac and iPhone mechanical engineers. Bryan Chaffin from the Mac Observer who was one of the first to push this rumor said the people Apple has been poaching from Tesla and elsewhere are people that would be involved in building s car. So assuming any of these rumors are accurate (and I'm skeptical) it sure seems Apple's ambitions go way beyond carplay.
2.. It takes 1 billion to develope a new car model. It takes another billion to to produce and take to market (incured in 4-5 years) ...Apple spent aprox 4 billion on R&D last year. Apple spen 3 billion for beats .......(..even if the car never makes it to market, what apple learns from the venture will make it worth while , let alone if they really comeup with some cool disruptive product )
2- how did i phone change the world ?.. Or the ipad or the ipod!? They sure have changed my life dramatically!
Are u under the impression that the automobile or transportation technology as matured to a point where no significant changes can happen.. Changes that will affect how u experience your daily transportation?
Tesla seems doing fine against all odds u mentioned ....
Did you know that in japan they have more electric car charge stations than gas stations already !
1-High end cars have margins north of 30%
2.. It takes 1 billion to develope a new car model. It takes another billion to to produce and take to market (incured in 4-5 years) ...Apple spent aprox 4 billion on R&D last year. Apple spen 3 billion for beats .......(..even if the car never makes it to market, what apple learns from the venture will make it worth while , let alone if they really comeup with some cool disruptive product )
2- how did i phone change the world ?.. Or the ipad or the ipod!? They sure have changed my life dramatically!
Are u under the impression that the automobile or transportation technology as matured to a point where no significant changes can happen.. Changes that will affect how u experience your daily transportation?
Well Tim Cook is obsessed with global warming and Al Gore is on the Board so maybe they thing it would change the world.
Then Tim Cook will be the guy who changes Apple's entire business model. Apple doesn't do cheap, unless they can still make a sizable margin. So it's either going to be a premium luxury vehicle servicing a niche market who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill, or the first product Apple loses money on (for people who want to drive around with a glowing Apple logo on their grill).
I can only imagine it will look like the DeLorean from Back To The Future though ... an all aluminum and glass body.
You're asking why Apple doesn't comment on rumours that are not true. Think about that a moment.