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Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

wsj.com

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Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#72

Post by brianbreslin »

I think we need to think of this strategically. Apple isn't going to want to build an equivalent substitute for a run of the mill car. They have the cash on hand to burn a billion trying this, and write it off as a line item on r&d and the investors wouldn't flinch.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#73

Post by Yetanfou »

pasta_2 wrote: post #5

Nice of Elon Musk to open source Tesla's patents, will make things easier for Apple.

Yes. And now wait for Apple to do the same reciprocally... if only.

In reality, they are more likely to get a patent on some trivial detail, turn around, and start suing the pants off Tesla for having the temerity to steal their 'inventions' - slide to unlock, revisited.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#74

Post by mrmondo »

While I praise more competition in the ecar market - I do wish Apple would return to concentrating on build quality, stability and performance optimising OSX - 10.10 has been a nightmare and if it isn't fixed soon or if 10.11 is a repeat they'll lose their reputation for building high quality, stable products. I do worry slightly that they may be trying to do too many things.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#75

Post by debaserab2 »

aetherson wrote: post #29
hmottestad wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only domain expertise they had on phones was the itunes phone with motorola. And then they launched the iphone. Same goes for the ipod. Only thing they had expertise in was computers. And with computers becoming extremely important for cars, they might just have a chance. Just as much as google, and they don't have any particular domain knowledge either (ie. they have never sold a car before).

Computers aren't that important for cars. I'll gladly believe that Apple will produce a car with a completely amazing user experience for its center console. But I'll take a car with a less amazing user experience for its center console if it drives better, gets better mileage, has lower maintenance, costs tens of thousands of dollars less, and looks good on the outside. Apple has no expertise there, and it's a compl…

Computers aren't important for cars the same way phone apps weren't important to phones 10 years ago: they were gimmicky, prone to failure, and too locked down to target by developers.

What if you change those facts? It's not too hard to imagine a world where computers could have greater effect on your car driving experience than just simple things like a music player or voice recognition.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#77

Post by bronz »

OK, I have done a little Googling. The evidence boils down to only a few verifiable facts.

In the Bay Area, a van registered to apple was spotted. The van was mounted with hardware that is unmistakably designed for car automation, namely spinning cameras at the front and rear. It is basically conclusive that the car is a self driving prototype and not something for apple maps. There is video of that van linked below. This is not conclusive evidence that Apple has intentions to enter the EV market, though.

Recently, Apple has hired people from the automotive industry, including some from Tesla (Articles that state this as fact cite linkedin, so I am assuming it is true). Basically, based on the qualifications and expertise of these hires, it can be concluded that Apple is not assigning them to work on CarPlay, which is the only known alternative. (I have not verified this myself but feel that it is OK to accept as true for the time being).

As far as I could tell everything else out there is speculation or not verifiable. There are various instances of bloggers and reporters claiming that they have gotten word from Apple employees that Apple is exploring the possibility of entering the EV market. These employees have all remained anonymous and there is no evidence that their claims are genuine or accurate.

My own conclusion is that there is a strong possibility that Apple is attempting to enter the EV market in some way. Let us ignore the evidence that has come to the surface as of late. The EV market has a lot of growth left and a lot of unclaimed territory. Apple has a lot of cash sitting around, a relative familiarity with power electronics and most importantly a very strong leader, Tim Cook. Apple is large and old but it does not appear to be fragmented and it is, IMHO, still capable of pouncing on new opportunities and markets. The means, motive, and opportunity all seem to exist in the case of Apple and EVs. And bringing the recent observations back into the equation only appears to strengthen the hypothesis.

video of van: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lhU54nhyyk

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/04/mysterious-apple-car/

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple-is-working-on-a...

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-employee-well-give-tesl...

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-more-evidence-that-appl...

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-testing-street-view-com...

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#78

Post by phkahler »

A couple months ago I was contacted by a recruiter from Apple on LinkedIn. He claimed my skillset was a great match for some new thing they were doing but wouldn't explain. I thought WTH, I'd been doing EVs for the last 6 years and non-EVs for longer than that. Maybe they need to get some official vague news out so they can actually hire the people they need?
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