Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

671–680 of 699 posts

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#671

Post by nojito »

wobbly_bush wrote: post #283
go_prodev wrote: post #277

Would Apple be required to make their car parts interchangeable with the generic aftermarket brands and car service centers? IIRC there is a law specifically for car manufacturing. I can imagine a dystopian future with custom non-standard parts, specialist repair centers, restrictions on what you can do with it, Apple being able to track everywhere we go, what we listen to, who is with us, and establishing a network…

I can't even begin to imagine how a walled garden for a car would look like. Perhaps there are examples from already existing car manufacturers.

The high end car market is already a walled garden for the most part.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#672

Post by nickik »

ttul wrote: post #512

Classic Apple. They dabble in various things for years until the moment is right to strike with a version 2.0 of something that others already make. Apple rarely enters the market with something that nobody has ever seen before. Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, and iPod... These were not the first products in their category, but they were the first to get the category truly right. This being said, I have no idea what Apple…

The problem there is nothing that is truly next generation. Better batteries are designed to cost more. How much more then 400-500 miles do you need on a car?

How much faster then 2-4 seconds to 100km/h do you need.

Better quality interiors? Better then Germans? Likely not.

I guess better software is an option, but what exactly. Tesla is working on that for years.

Self driving? Well, Apple has no solution and if anybody has one by 2024 is questionable.

Apple is likely not gone compete on price.

So not sure what the angle is here.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#673

Post by nickik »

buzzerbetrayed wrote: post #49
davidrm wrote: post #2

Apple has been in and out of the car game for a few years now, with executives coming and going. What I'm about to say will be as meaningful as this hear-say article, but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car. Things like this need 100% commitment from the management, Cook just doesn't seem like the guy to do it.

> but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car I feel like people pretend that building a car is way harder than it actually is in 2020. All the components to build a car are readily available. A person can buy the parts on their own and put them together in their garage. It isn't like they have to go get a pick axe and start mining ore to create everything from sc…

Building one car and building millions of car is not the same thing. Car production, distribution and servicing is a totally different very localized problem.

Apple can do it if they really want do, but lets not pretend it is easy.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#674

Post by nickik »

EduardoBautista wrote: post #293
root_axis wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you think Apple is capable of building rockets? They have essentially zero aerospace expertise and that type of engineering is not at all in their DNA. Sure, they have billions of dollars to burn so it's within the realm of possibility, but it would be a very inefficient use of their cash.

Well, Elon Musk didn't have aerospace experience expertise either. Neither did Jeff Bezos.

Elon Musk started 20 years ago. So in 20 years Apple could of course build rockets if they wanted.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#675

Post by nickik »

buzzerbetrayed wrote: post #68
asadlionpk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But those would be terrible car companies to buy imo.

Do you have any reasons for this? Or thoughts on other car companies to buy. Apple does, after all, have enough cash to buy any car company besides Toyota (barely) and Tesla.

If you want to buy a company outright you need to pay more then the market cap.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#676

Post by nickik »

christophilus wrote: post #285

If I was an Apple shareholder (I guess I am, indirectly through Berkshire), this would piss me off. Apple is in a very good business. Cars are a terrible business. Just compare Apple’s margins to any car company. Also, it’s really hard to move into a business that is widely outside your core competency. It can be done, but the effort is huge, and I suspect the median track record is poor.

They could have easily bought like 40% of Tesla a couple years ago, instead they were fucking around with their own car idea for years and years.

Buying 40% of Tesla would have been a drop in the bucket for Apple, and it would have already payed off big time.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#677

Post by Bud »

freeone3000 wrote: post #383
Bud wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because you don't have the faintest idea of how Apple differentiated their card from the competition.

How did apple differentiate their card from the competition? I don't see any reason I should prefer it to my amex.

There are many differentiators, but I think the most important one is that there are no fees on the Apple Card, of any kind. Including annual fees, and even including late fees. The app also actively tries to help you not pay interest, as opposed to the usual approach, which is to confuse the consumer so much that they end up paying as much interest as possible.

The customer service is also over the top.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#678

Post by vel0city »

saberience wrote: post #603
Melting_Harps wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can assure you that only in the instrument cluster and the central console area you have the same amount of complexity as in a smartphone. Now add the rest of the car. Not only that but the regulatory standards of EV in US/EU/Asia varies so widely that I don't see how they can get a product to Market in less than 5-10 years unless they're just making EV clones of what is already out here or partner with a Manufac…

This is such a clueless comment. Tesla, a start-up with zero experience in cars managed to make cars without any issue at all and become one of the most popular luxury car makers in the world. So Apple, the world's most valuable company, isn't going to be able to make their own car? You're dreaming.

I doubt anyone here would say Apple couldn't make their own car, but the idea of Apple mass manufacturing a brand new car in four years is a bit crazy. In your example, Tesla took nearly a decade of focus and half a billion in capital to begin small production of the Model S.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#679

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #469
vesinisa wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is still very basic car UI desing. Other car manufacturers will catch up with Tesla.

You can imagine why, for many, this is hard to believe. People have said for years legacy automakers will “catch up” to Tesla, while they continue to ramp at Plaid speed. Culture is hard, but the core of your business. To not embrace the culture your org needs to outcompete competitors is to embrace failure.

Yeah, I think the issue is that most traditional manufacturers have leaned hard into integrating components made by a variety of manufacturers. Tesla (and Apple) differ because they are mostly into vertical integration: so, they can design all the parts for the “system as a whole” rather than having to work around the limitations of particular off-the-shelf solutions.

Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources

#680

Post by nomel »

01100011 wrote: post #589
nomel wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not the same as making an iPhone. They can make phones because they hire/hired experts who can make phones. I doubt they would use those same electrical engineers to design the brake systems. I don't think there's anything evidence to suggest that they couldn't acquire/hire the right talent.

What will Apple do when the talent they hire tells them their CPUs and software are incompatible with ISO 26262, MISRA, and industry accepted safety and reliability standards? Will Apple accept the timelines they have to adhere to in order to produce a safe vehicle? Will they try to take shortcuts and expose themselves to liability?

> What will Apple do when the talent they hire tells them their CPUs and software are incompatible with ISO 26262, MISRA, and industry accepted safety and reliability standards?

I think you have an incredible misunderstanding of the the due diligence/research that these multi trillion dollar, publicly traded, companies go through to estimate costs/risks of their endeavors.

Post reply on HN