Motor Trend reimagines the 'Apple Car,' sees autonomous rideshare in Apple's future

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2022
American auto magazine Motor Trend is back to rehash its initial predictions for Apple's yet unannounced "Apple Car", this time updating it for the "inevitable" autonomous future.

Image Credit: Motor Trend
Image Credit: Motor Trend


The new report is, once again, a think piece that collates a collection of rumors into Motor Trend's best guess at what Apple might have in the the works.

It doesn't take long for the publication to reference its first stab at imagining the "Apple Car," one which wound up being ridiculed for being too "podlike." Yet, as Motor Trend points out, podlike cars are being developed all over.

Amazon has the Zoox, and even Apple debated acquiring the startup behind the Canoo Lifestyle vehicle.

However, not satisfied with its original idea, Motor Trend has come up with what it dubs as the "Apple Car" 2.0.

The renders the publication provides show a newer, sleeker version of an all-electric vehicle, similar to the Zoox or the Canoo, or even Tesla's Cybertruck.

Image Credit: Motor Trend
Image Credit: Motor Trend


This time, where most of the predictions lie this time isn't in the look of the car, but rather how the car functions.

Motor Trend sees a future where an autonomous "Apple Car" may be the most likely outcome. It's a safe bet, as it was learned in 2021 that Apple had been testing nearly 70 self-driving vehicles in California.

However, Motor Trend believes that Apple will likely pursue a rideshare-style program, rather than selling cars directly to consumers.

As it turns out, designing, manufacturing, and selling a vehicle from the ground up is an expensive endeavor. The publication reminds readers that vacuum manufacturer Dyson scrapped its electric vehicle after pumping more than $700 million into it. The company learned that they would have had to sell the car at $210,000, a price not many would be willing to pay.

So, instead of owning your own "Apple Car," you'd simply hail one the same way you might a Lyft or Uber. The only difference would be that the car would be entirely autonomous.

Of course, this future would be quite a ways off and likely restricted to major metropolitan areas where roads are grid-like and speeds are slow. The publication suggests that in the future, major metropolitan areas may ban private vehicles entirely, and autonomous ride-share vehicles could replace them.

The single-seat
The single-seat "ePod Solo" | Image Credit: Motor Trend


It also goes on to speculate that Apple will create two models of vehicles -- which it calls the ePod and the ePod Solo -- to meet the riders needs. The ePod would be a larger vehicle, designed to haul multiple passengers or passengers with lots of goods. The smaller ePod Solo would be be a single-seat option -- though we're somewhat skeptical at the concept of fleets of single-seat vehicles cluttering the roads of major cities like New York City and Chicago.

The piece, while based mostly on rumors and best guesses, is an interesting read. It also includes 29 renders of what it thinks the "Apple Car" might look like and how users might interact with it.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    Not going to happen. The car-loving US culture blind-sides Apple in the pointlessness of this endeavour. 

    Sir Clive Sinclair, who created the original personal electric car in 1985, then spent millions in research into finding the optimum cycling geometry only to find that the existing geometries were already optimum. Solution already there. 

    There is no future for expensive driverless cars. The future is walking, cycling, tuk-tuks and shared minibuses. It will always be cheaper to employ a driver than to maintain a network of backup people to rush to a vehicle to sort out inevitable issues that arise. It will always be better for a society to walk or cycle. Something Sir Clive realised decades ago. 

    Simply replacing gas-guzzling vehicles with their electric counterparts does not cut it. Driverless does not cut it. The problem has already been solved but many of the current generation do not wish to accept the solution.
    edited February 2022 haikusMplsPwilliamlondon
  • Reply 2 of 24
    timmillea said:
    Not going to happen. The car-loving US culture blind-sides Apple in the pointlessness of this endeavour. 
    If real, the Apple Car is the 202X version of “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
    Beats
  • Reply 3 of 24
    Ooph.. those concepts are so bad I feel guilty for pointing it out. They put a plant in one of them?? Incredibly cringy. 

    I’m looking forward to Apple’s pleasantly rounded car that’s not completely made out of glass that would kill all the passengers if a drunk person plows into it. 
    edited February 2022 williamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 24
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Haven’t we learned that saying “people will never” makes us look dumb?

    Whatever Apple is working on will be revolutionary and the usual haters will be out in full force.

    ”The iPhone will fail because it’s not a good email machine!!”
    qwerty52
  • Reply 5 of 24
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    These predictions need to be refined:   Having an autonomous car does not mean people will no longer need (or want) their own car.  It enables that to happen but it doesn't make it happen.

    As the article mentions:  in a major metropolitan city, simply ordering an autonomous taxi would work.   But in the suburbs and rural areas, that is not practical because you need a vehicle to go anywhere -- so that means owning one.

    For the foreseeable future autonomous vehicles will likely, be restricted to taxis and to the well-off buying high end vehicles.   The rest of us will be driving just like we always have (although with a lot of driver assist gadgets helping us).

    Two things will push autonomous vehicles into the typical suburban middle class garage:
    1)  The cost comes down (which it will)
    2)  Autonomous vehicles become safer than non-autonomous to the point where a human driven vehicle becomes recognized as a danger to others.   But, I think that will take government intervention for things such as roadways designed for autonomous vehicles and perhaps including communications between the vehicle and roadway as well as vehicle to vehicle.
    JWSCbadmonkStrangeDays
  • Reply 6 of 24
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Why is there a plant in the car?  :smiley: 

    These renders are ridiculous, I don't know why AppleInsider give them any bandwidth.
    MplsP
  • Reply 7 of 24

    2)  Autonomous vehicles become safer than non-autonomous to the point where a human driven vehicle becomes recognized as a danger to others.   But, I think that will take government intervention for things such as roadways designed for autonomous vehicles and perhaps including communications between the vehicle and roadway as well as vehicle to vehicle.
    Insurance companies will push that one.  Insurance rates on "those deadly dangerous cars that require actual humans to operate" will become prohibitively expensive.  So much so that ordinary people won't be able to afford them.

    Yes, that will take time, and require that autonomous vehicles actually be safer than human driven ones, but it will happen.
    JWSCbadmonkGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 8 of 24
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    I agree with everything George wrote above (I know, weird huh). I think the point at which autonomous vehicles become statistically safer than human piloted vehicles will happen sooner rather than later. The insurance industry will respond accordingly and lower insurance premiums for autonomous vehicles. I would add that, despite sensationalist headlines in the press, the safety record of battery powered vehicles is already superior to that of gasoline powered vehicles. More than any government mandate or subsidy, insurance companies will drive autonomous EV sales.

    Now, if only we had an electric grid with the capacity to handle all those EVs.
    badmonk
  • Reply 9 of 24
    GeorgeBMac said: But, I think that will take government intervention for things such as roadways designed for autonomous vehicles and perhaps including communications between the vehicle and roadway as well as vehicle to vehicle.
    This is getting closer to the truth: autonomous vehicles won't be viable without special exemptions and special treatment from the government. 
  • Reply 10 of 24
    Beats said:
    Haven’t we learned that saying “people will never” makes us look dumb?

    Whatever Apple is working on will be revolutionary and the usual haters will be out in full force.

    ”The iPhone will fail because it’s not a good email machine!!”
    Yes, I still remember all those stupid comments, coming from “respectable experts”
  • Reply 11 of 24
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    GeorgeBMac said: But, I think that will take government intervention for things such as roadways designed for autonomous vehicles and perhaps including communications between the vehicle and roadway as well as vehicle to vehicle.
    This is getting closer to the truth: autonomous vehicles won't be viable without special exemptions and special treatment from the government. 

    Possibly, but that's not what meant.
    I meant that roadways may need to be enhanced in order to get the full benefit from autonomous vehicles -- particularly in relation to communications technologies.

    Or is that what you mean by "special treatment"?
    It isn't -- no more than paving roads for internal combustion engines.  It is the government's job to provide infrastructure to support the American people and American business -- and keep it up with the times.
    roundaboutnow
  • Reply 12 of 24
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    I’d recommend the following presentation by Terrence Sejnowski, from Salk Institute, UCSD, and HHMI, at Cambridge a few years ago. THe presentation is titled Deep Learning: Artificial Intelligence meets Human Intelligence. In part, he addresses the likely effects  of self driving vehicles on society and infrastructure.

    https://youtu.be/O8vlHOKTepQ
    edited February 2022
  • Reply 13 of 24
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    timmillea said:
    Not going to happen. The car-loving US culture blind-sides Apple in the pointlessness of this endeavour. 

    Sir Clive Sinclair, who created the original personal electric car in 1985, then spent millions in research into finding the optimum cycling geometry only to find that the existing geometries were already optimum. Solution already there. 

    There is no future for expensive driverless cars. The future is walking, cycling, tuk-tuks and shared minibuses. It will always be cheaper to employ a driver than to maintain a network of backup people to rush to a vehicle to sort out inevitable issues that arise. It will always be better for a society to walk or cycle. Something Sir Clive realised decades ago. 

    Simply replacing gas-guzzling vehicles with their electric counterparts does not cut it. Driverless does not cut it. The problem has already been solved but many of the current generation do not wish to accept the solution.
    Gosh, if only Apple was helmed by US executives known for their love of cars. Oh wait, they are. 
    williamlondonroundaboutnow
  • Reply 14 of 24
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    These predictions need to be refined:   Having an autonomous car does not mean people will no longer need (or want) their own car.  It enables that to happen but it doesn't make it happen.

    As the article mentions:  in a major metropolitan city, simply ordering an autonomous taxi would work.   But in the suburbs and rural areas, that is not practical because you need a vehicle to go anywhere -- so that means owning one.

    For the foreseeable future autonomous vehicles will likely, be restricted to taxis and to the well-off buying high end vehicles.   The rest of us will be driving just like we always have (although with a lot of driver assist gadgets helping us).
    This is correct. The invention of a new thing doesn’t mandate elimination of other things. Small-engined unleaded vehicles for communing didn’t mean the elimination of large diesel-powered vehicles. No, we have multiple use cases and some tools are used for some and some tools are used for others. 

    The myopic always have a big problem understanding this. A new thing doesn’t have to completely replace all other things all of the time.
    muthuk_vanalingamroundaboutnowGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 15 of 24
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    The Ride sharing and car sharing concepts have been around for years and have  never taken off. What makes an electric car with auto pilot suddenly different? 

    Elon Musk has made similar fanciful statements and those are just as wrong. Just because it’s by Tesla or Apple won’t change human nature or people’s opinions. 
    edited February 2022 muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondon
  • Reply 16 of 24
    Does "autonomous ride sharing" happen in a world without a deadly pandemic? Just wondering.
  • Reply 17 of 24
    Beats said:
    Haven’t we learned that saying “people will never” makes us look dumb?

    Whatever Apple is working on will be revolutionary and the usual haters will be out in full force.

    ”The iPhone will fail because it’s not a good email machine!!”
    I’m a “hater” in this case ;-) But my problem isn’t about Apple. I’m sure they can make a great car. The question is whether the world needs a new car or something beyond that. Do we need Apple to improve the car experience? Or do we need something, as you say, revolutionary? 
  • Reply 18 of 24
    That looks straight out of Minority Report.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    haikus said:
    Beats said:
    Haven’t we learned that saying “people will never” makes us look dumb?

    Whatever Apple is working on will be revolutionary and the usual haters will be out in full force.

    ”The iPhone will fail because it’s not a good email machine!!”
    I’m a “hater” in this case ;-) But my problem isn’t about Apple. I’m sure they can make a great car. The question is whether the world needs a new car or something beyond that. Do we need Apple to improve the car experience? Or do we need something, as you say, revolutionary? 
    If there weren't people who wanted to make things better they are, we'd still had to live in caves  ;-)
    edited February 2022
  • Reply 20 of 24
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    qwerty52 said:
    haikus said:
    Beats said:
    Haven’t we learned that saying “people will never” makes us look dumb?

    Whatever Apple is working on will be revolutionary and the usual haters will be out in full force.

    ”The iPhone will fail because it’s not a good email machine!!”
    I’m a “hater” in this case ;-) But my problem isn’t about Apple. I’m sure they can make a great car. The question is whether the world needs a new car or something beyond that. Do we need Apple to improve the car experience? Or do we need something, as you say, revolutionary? 
    If there weren't people who wanted to make things better they are, we'd still had to live in caves  ;-)
    But now we have iCaves! :tongue: 

    If and when this car ever sees the light of day I'm anxious to see the interface. Tesla has been doing a pretty good job of effing their 
    interface up and could use a bit of comeuppance from Apple!
    edited February 2022 williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingam
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