Project Titan, SixtyEight & SG5: Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project

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  • Reply 81 of 145
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paxman View Post



    What would have been the best is if Apple could have done this without anyone finding out. It would have been the most spectacular 'And one more thing...' ever.

     

    An impossibility.

  • Reply 82 of 145
    ireland wrote: »

    An impossibility.

    Agreed. But at a much smaller level, it is interesting that no one called super thin gold MacBook (at least, not that I recall).
  • Reply 83 of 145
    smalmsmalm Posts: 677member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    And didn't Nokia and Erickson say the same thing when the iPhone came out?  LOL. Apple DISRUPTS.


    Nokia, Erickson and the others thought they were still in the mobile phone business.

    In reality the phones had become handheld computers. They had stepped in to Apples territory and Apple crushed them.

  • Reply 84 of 145
    smalm wrote: »
    Nokia, Erickson and the others thought they were still in the mobile phone business.
    In reality the phones had become handheld computers. They had stepped in to Apples territory and Apple crushed them.

    LOL. Really? Because Nokia had created some 'communicator' thingy that was a pathetic little product that no one used? Who else, by when, had made it 'become a handheld computer'?

    Please enlighten us further with your amazing tech history knowledge. While you're at it, do also tell us -- if you have the remotest clue -- how long you think Apple worked on a phone before introducing the iPhone to the public in January 2007. And whether mobile phones were handheld computers when Apple started working on the iPhone.
  • Reply 85 of 145
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post



    LOL. Really? Because Nokia had created some 'communicator' thingy that was a pathetic little product that no one used? Who else, by when, had made it 'become a handheld computer'?



    Please enlighten us further with your amazing tech history knowledge. While you're at it, do also tell us -- if you have the remotest clue -- how long you think Apple worked on a phone before introducing the iPhone to the public in January 2007. And whether mobile phones were handheld computers when Apple started working on the iPhone.

     

    The Mac was invented by IBM in 1973.  :-)

  • Reply 86 of 145
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Agreed. But at a much smaller level, it is interesting that no one called super thin gold MacBook (at least, not that I recall).

    I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll get several people predicting it in three colours. And Gurman closely predicted the machine itself aside from a slightly discrepancy in the speaker layout. I would have loved if Apple had have added a USB-C to both sides of the machine — as a charging convenience it's a no-brainer and I'm surprised that alluded Schiller & Co.

    The other stuff I'd like to see is a 14" version with 12 hours battery life and an improved proc speed. Looks like I'll be awaiting version 3 of this machine before I jump ship from my MacBook Air. Ports in general are not a concern to me as I have an iMac 5K for my video work. The second USB-C port would be a charging convenience as I see it.
  • Reply 87 of 145
    ' Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project '

    Not really top secret as its on AI. I'd say it's fairly well known by now. Seems we know the product, we know it's location, we know the project name 'Titan' and codename 'SG5', and a whole bunch of other stuff posted above.

    There are other 'secret projects' but we don't know what they are.

    :-)
  • Reply 88 of 145
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    scottyltd wrote: »
    ' Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project '

    Not really top secret as its on AI. I'd say it's fairly well known by now. Seems we know the product, we know it's location, we know the project name 'Titan' and codename 'SG5', and a whole bunch of other stuff posted above.

    There are other 'secret projects' but we don't know what they are.

    :-)

    Being 'on AI' doesn't end the fact something is a secret surely, AI is a rumor site. Does a rumor end a secret?
  • Reply 89 of 145
    philipmphilipm Posts: 240member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dcorby23 View Post



    The car on the render on the top of the page looks a lot like Trabant. (the 70s and 80s East Germany vehicle, not sure if it could count as a "car").



    Beat me to it. Spot the resemblance:

    I even found a green one to compare ;)

  • Reply 90 of 145
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    scottyltd wrote: »
    ' Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project '

    Not really top secret as its on AI. I'd say it's fairly well known by now. Seems we know the product, we know it's location, we know the project name 'Titan' and codename 'SG5', and a whole bunch of other stuff posted above.

    There are other 'secret projects' but we don't know what they are.

    :-)

    that word, "known"...I do not think it means what you think it means...
  • Reply 91 of 145
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    philipm wrote: »

    Nice. Here's how the front can look when you have an air-cooled engine in the back—or an electric motor.

    700

    Circa 1965 VW Type 3 1500 Sedan, "Notchback."
  • Reply 92 of 145
    flaneur wrote: »
    philipm wrote: »

    Nice. Here's how the front can look when you have an air-cooled engine in the back—or an electric motor.

    700

    Circa 1965 VW Type 3 1500 Sedan, "Notchback."

    Nice car.

    Question is: is it white and silver or black and green?
  • Reply 93 of 145
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    paxman wrote: »
    An aside - how did Slurpy get banned?

    Did you ever get an answer? I'm pretty sure it was because he was giving Benjamin Frost a well-earned slapdown. Same thing happened once before.

    It's like the guy in the apartment upstairs gets evicted for stamping out cockroaches at night.
  • Reply 94 of 145
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    flaneur wrote: »
    Nice. Here's how the front can look when you have an air-cooled engine in the back—or an electric motor.

    700

    Circa 1965 VW Type 3 1500 Sedan, "Notchback."

    Very very pretty. These old VW's are not the safest cars, however. I am not sure about this model but the beetles were bad on slippery roads with a rear mounted engine over rear wheel drive. Great for traction, lousy for steering. Coupled with lousy aerodynamics think the VW beetle was measured to have approx 6 kg on its from wheels at 80kmph. I once owned a 67 VW convertible and doing about that (80) I hit some water. VERY scary to aquaplane! The aerodynamics of the convertible was probably even worse so I am guessing 3 kgs over the from wheels at 80 :\
  • Reply 95 of 145

    I think I can shed some light on the SixtyEight name they are using.

    It is a reference to "The Mother of all Demos" which happened on December 9th, 1968.

    In case you are not familiar with it, here is a brief description from YouTube:

    Quote:

    "The Mother of All Demos is a name given retrospectively to Douglas Engelbart's December 9, 1968, demonstration of experimental computer technologies that are now commonplace. The live demonstration featured the introduction of the computer mouse, video conferencing, teleconferencing, hypertext, word processing, hypermedia, object addressing and dynamic file linking, bootstrapping, and a collaborative real-time editor."


    image

     

    The folks in Apple R&D use the number 68 to remind themselves of the high bar that has been set by men such as Douglas Engelbart and the team at SRI.  The iPhone project used the codename M68.

  • Reply 96 of 145
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    The article mentions a 1957 Fiat Multipla 600, but the 1968 model from that company was called the 1968 Fiat Abarth 595.

    1968 = "SixtyEight" and 595 = "sg5" ?

    http://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/1968/211175/fiat_abarth_595.html
  • Reply 97 of 145
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    flaneur wrote: »
    quinney wrote: »
    @flaneur, @fallenjt, @paxman, @mstone: you guys really should test drive a Model S…
    "it don't cost nuthin'"

    I saw they travel around giving test drive events by appointment. Do they also take you out from the Santa Monica Blvd. showroom? What's been your experience with them, in other words?

    I first test drove one in San Jose. I didn't have an appointment. I just fell by and they weren't busy. It is probably better to call and make an appointment.
  • Reply 98 of 145
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    paxman wrote: »
    Very very pretty. These old VW's are not the safest cars, however. I am not sure about this model but the beetles were bad on slippery roads with a rear mounted engine over rear wheel drive. Great for traction, lousy for steering. Coupled with lousy aerodynamics think the VW beetle was measured to have approx 6 kg on its from wheels at 80kmph. I once owned a 67 VW convertible and doing about that (80) I hit some water. VERY scary to aquaplane! The aerodynamics of the convertible was probably even worse so I am guessing 3 kgs over the from wheels at 80 :\

    Yep, I believe the bug was designed for 100 kph, or 60 mph. Add radials and good shocks and you could be good for maybe another 10 mph on dry pavement, but with the original skinny bias plys they were very squirrely at any speed. Thank God for Michelin, we used to say back in the 70s.

    Aquaplaning I did discover a couple of times in my youth, even with my heavier notchback with lots of tools in the front. I just learned to slow down. They should come with warning labels, and naturally one always carries tools in the front. I'm still driving a 71 bug, and much prefer it to any front wheel drive car, certainly to any front engine car. What a throwback, eh? Interesting about the actual weight on the front axle, if true. I wonder what it is at 65? It is just so pleasant to drive without the need for power steering, in full tactile contact with the pavement through the steering wheel.

    Anyway, I hope Jony and Marc and crew are looking at all the conventions in chassis and drivetrain layout with great skepticism. Nothing annoys me more than putting the engine in the wrong damn place, over the front steering wheels, and then running the power to the lightly loaded rear wheels with a stupid, heavy drive shaft. Hans Ludwinka and Porsche solved this problem, or rather ended this insanity, 80 years ago. Hats off to Tesla for coming up with an even better solution.
  • Reply 99 of 145
    wovelwovel Posts: 956member
    paxman wrote: »
    Very very pretty. These old VW's are not the safest cars, however. I am not sure about this model but the beetles were bad on slippery roads with a rear mounted engine over rear wheel drive. Great for traction, lousy for steering. Coupled with lousy aerodynamics think the VW beetle was measured to have approx 6 kg on its from wheels at 80kmph. I once owned a 67 VW convertible and doing about that (80) I hit some water. VERY scary to aquaplane! The aerodynamics of the convertible was probably even worse so I am guessing 3 kgs over the from wheels at 80 :\

    Plenty of space up there to lay the kids down and help keep weight on the front wheels.
  • Reply 100 of 145
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    smalm wrote: »
    Nokia, Erickson and the others thought they were still in the mobile phone business.
    In reality the phones had become handheld computers. They had stepped in to Apples territory and Apple crushed them.
    Exactly. And the same may be true of a computer company that steps into transportation.
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