mistertrick

If Apple is going to dive in to the Auto Industry, I still think it would be smart to acquire Lucid Motors, in addition to their gorgeous designs, they already have really competitive battery tech compared to Tesla and looking at AR as well

and I think a purchase like that benefits beyond just the car, as it would bolster their IP on battery tech that can be spread across all fields they cover

omasou said:

IMHO Apple never wanted to make a car. They wanted to develop the systems that run the car and/or use it as an AI development platform, e.g. computer vision, edge ai, etc.

The more time has gone on this feels like the correct take, the idea that billions were wasted on this venture seems short sighted as they have been building out CarPlay and such but who knows what tech has been developed for that venture that could be put to use such as better battery tech, Lidar, and AI seemed to be a very important part as the goal was self driving vehicles 

if their goal was to enter the car market, I always thought acquiring a company like Lucid would have made sense as their 900 volt charging remains top notch, and the design cues seemed very inspired by Apple in the first place

Apple should have gone and acquired Lucid some years back if they wanted that quick in to the EV market

they still can, but it would be much more expensive and difficult now