Bloomberg also reports that this Apple EV won’t be fully autonomous. Instead, drivers will alledgedly only be able to activate the self-driving features on highways, similar to the Level 2+ features in the BMW i7 or in the GM’s Super Cruise and Ford’s BlueCruise. Initially it was believed that Apple wanted to offer a vehicle with “Level 5” autonomy.

The rumormill further churns out that the Apple Car would use a technology system codenamed Denali powered by a processor that’s “about four of Apple’s highest-end Mac chips combined,” according to Bloomberg. The same outlet says that the chip is believed to have reached an advanced state of development.

Over the years, the ‌Apple Car‌ team has also gone through several leadership changes and Project Titan has been delayed several times.

[Source: Bloomberg]

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It is believed the deal will be signed as early as February 17, with the electric vehicle set to enter production in 2024. Apple and Kia apparently want to build cars in Georgia, United States where the K5 midsize sedan is currently built alongside the Sorento and Telluride large SUVs. The factory currently has a production capacity of 340,000 vehicles a year, but that could grow around the middle of the decade as the deal between the automotive and tech giants reportedly includes an annual output of 100,000 EVs.

Shortly after Dong-A Ilbo’s article was published, Kia shares rose by as much as 14.5 percent to the highest level since 1997. That’s despite the fact representatives from both companies declined to comment about the potential tie-up. It is believed Apple’s EV is still in an early development stage and it might use the E-GMP platform debuting this year on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the upcoming Kia CV and Genesis GV60.

Being an electric vehicle in its infancy, it will take a while before the Apple Car will hit the streets. With Kia’s support, the Cupertino-based company can speed up development, but the EV is unlikely to be ready for at least several years from now. Another tech giant, Sony, has also been working on an electric vehicle of its own, but the PlayStation maker is adamant the Vision-S sedan concept will not be going into production.

Developing an electric car from the ground up is a major undertaking, hence why Apple is looking for a partner. Manufacturing vehicles is a separate story, requiring massive investments in a factory and tooling. It makes sense why Apple is actively trying to find a partner that knows its way around developing and building an EV and has the proper tools to make it happen.

Source: Dong-A Ilbo via Automotive News

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Despite the fact Hyundai initially confirmed in a statement to CNBC it’s negotiating with Apple, Bloomberg says the automaker has already updated its statement not once, but twice. The official word right now is Hyundai has received “requests for potential cooperation from various companies regarding development of autonomous EVs. No decisions have been made as discussions are in early stage.”

The initial statement made by Hyundai acknowledged the South Korean brand is one of the several automakers Apple had been in contact with for an electric car project. Only half an hour later, the reference to other car companies was deleted. A few hours later, the statement was revised yet again to delete the Apple reference altogether.

Even these brief references of a potential tie-up between Hyundai and the American tech giant were enough to boost the automaker’s market value today by a whopping $8 billion. Shares went up by 18% this Friday in light of the possibility of a collaboration between the two parties, which even if it’s going to happen, the Apple Car is still far away.

People familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News the Apple Car is still in the early development stage and it’ll take at least five years to launch the autonomous EV. It likely means Apple is not in a hurry to find a partner to manufacture its driverless, zero-emissions car.

The iPhone maker isn’t the only tech giant interested in cars as Sony took everyone by surprise at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show with the unveiling of the Vision-S concept car. The sleek electric sedan has since evolved to the prototype stage, but the company behind the PlayStation gaming console remains mum about the possibility of a production car.

Note: Attached photo shows the electric Hyundai 45 concept.

Source: Korea Economic Daily, CNBC, Bloomberg

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“During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.” said Musk in a recent tweet.

Back in 2017, Tesla was on the brink of collapse, as production delays and setbacks for the Model 3 almost proved too much for the electric. According to Musk himself, Tesla was only weeks away from its demise. Obviously, Tesla was able to survive and even thrive since then, so it’s a good thing for Musk that Cool never took the meeting. Especially now that Musk is considered the second richest man in the world, now.

However, it’s interesting that Cook wouldn’t take the meeting. At the time, Apple had already begun working on its own car, Project Titan, so any assets, technology, tooling or intellectual property Tesla had, which would have been acquired by Apple, would have been massively helpful. Or at least one would think. So it’s a bit odd that Cook wouldn’t even at least entertain the idea. If Cook had bought Tesla at the time, it would have had all of the tooling and manufacturing facilities it would have needed to build electric cars, which will Apple’s biggest hurdle if it does get into the car business.

We don’t know why Cook didn’t take the meeting, as Apple refused to comment. It could be that, at the time, Apple was thinking Project Titan and didn’t feel that acquiring Tesla would make sense. It could be that Cook didn’t want to work with Musk or it could be that maybe Cook and his team at Apple didn’t feel that Tesla was worth buying.

To be honest, we don’t even know if it’s true. Musk isn’t a man to shy away from embellishment. If it is true, though, it will be interesting to see if Cook responds and, if so, why he didn’t at least entertain the idea of Apple buying Tesla.

[Source: The Verge]

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According to this report from Reuters, whose sources are two unnamed people close to the Apple Car project, the project is again underway and it will debut a new type of battery technology that will change the game.

”It’s next level,” said one of Reuters’ sources. “Like the first time you saw the iPhone.”

That’s a massive statement, considering the iPhone not only changed the automotive market, it changed the world. Could Apple really have such a battery technology, one that current automotive giants haven’t already figured out? While that’s not likely, we wouldn’t put it past Apple. Changing the world is sort of what it does.

Apparently, its battery tech ditches individual battery cells in the pack, in something Apple calls “monocell”, which ups the density of the battery while also reducing size and weight. Also, Apple is said to be working on lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, rather than traditional lithium-ion batteries, which are less susceptible to overheating, thus potentially allowing them to charge faster.

Regardless of whatever Apple’s new technologies might be, it’s still going to run into the same old hurdle — manufacturing. There’s no doubt Apple could design a car and it’d be brilliant, even game-changing. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is getting it made, putting it through countless regulatory tests and getting it on the road. There are enormous logistical and financial hurdles to overcome before manufacturing even begins. While Apple could likely do it, profitability comes into question.

At the moment, Apple is one of the largest manufacturers in the world, so it’s not like the iPhone brand isn’t used to making stuff. But Apple also sees big, fat profit margins on its products, something it wouldn’t have on a car. So investing all of that time and money might actually be quite difficult to profit on.

There’s talk that Apple could outsource manufacturing to the third-party but that’s still up in the air. It’d make sense, and it’s said that Apple did reach out to Magna, but nothing is official thus far.

If Apple does debut a car, and it’s as brilliant as sources close to the project say, it could end up changing the game. That seems like a big if but no other technology company has changed how we communicate with each other more than Apple. So we wouldn’t bet against it.

[Source: Reuters]

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The first automakers confirmed to be working with the California-based company were BMW and Ford. According to Apple, the Maps app will have a similar functionality to the on-board infotainment found in Tesla cars, which offers the most optimal route for your EV.

The feature is supposed to show you where the chargers are and how long you should charge, to get to your destination in the optimum amount of time.

BMW’s iDrive navigation system already has such a feature but it’s not as streamlined and easy to use as it would be if integrated into Apple Maps. The Cupertino-based tech giant also confirmed that more models and makes will be added to the app later on, BMW and Ford being just the front runners right now. The new feature will know what kind of car you’re driving, the charger it supports and, when setting up your itinerary, mind the weather and elevation on your route.

This way, you could avoid unfortunate situations along the way. The new Apple Maps should also recognize the new eDrive Zones created by BMW or the areas where EVs have free access, without having to pay a toll to get in. That said, there are plenty of things to get excited about if or when these new functions will become operational.

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But success is never a foregone conclusion. Dyson’s, which raised the white flag on its zero-emission car last October, is in fact only the latest of other major projects that was canceld.

Let’s stay for a moment on Sir James Dyson, who revealed a lot of insights about his electric car project at the Sunday Times.

Dyson is the wealthiest man in Britain and has built his empire on high performance appliances. Dyson decided to develop a project for an electric SUV, he built it and he also started the road tests. But after two years of intense work he gave up, putting the beauty of £500 million pounds (over €600 million – over $650) out of his own pocket.

The car signed by Dyson had a weight of 2.6 tons, an autonomy of 950 km, the ability to shoot from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.8 seconds. The project, started in 2017, gave work to 600 people and immediately aimed to undermine Tesla’s dominance in the field of zero emissions with a direct competitor of the Tesla Model X.

It did not make it. Among the critical points: the company’s willingness to immediately use solid-state batteries (on which Samsung is making significant progress) and the willingness to develop new technologies in the field of artificial intelligence.

The Apple car

Dyson, as mentioned, finds himself in good company, so to speak. Among the other illustrious companies that have failed to make an electric car, we also have Apple. The Californian tech company decided to start the Project Titan in 2014: 1,000 employees and a secret location were ready to give life to the first Apple car ever. Obviously, the car was an all-electric and self-driving one.

The company tried but didn’t make it. From producing an entire car, Apple started to focus only on driving assistance technologies. Then everything stopped. At least for a couple of years, because rumors from Silicon Valley say that Apple is still developing autonomous driving technologies today. But how and with what efforts it is unknown, since there is no official news.

The Google car

Even before Apple, since the early 2000s, Google has ventured into designing an electric and self-driving car. Daughter of the X Lab, the division dedicated to special projects, this small car codenamed Firefly had been presented to the public quite early.

It had rounded lines and hypercompact dimensions. The prototype, which was nicknamed “koala”, certainly managed to bring human beings from one place to another. But calling it a “car” was probably too much.

The project seemed to proceed at a good pace, so much that rumors were stating that Google was already thinking to split the company branch to create an independent company. Sadly, Firefly was eventually abandoned in 2009 and Google decided to change plans, putting aside the whole car project and starting to focus on self-driving technologies only, also in collaboration with FCA.

The Sony Vision-S Concept

Sony has also recently entered the fray, even though it tried to keep a low profile. The consumer electronics giant presented the Vision-S Concept at CES 2020, a concept that introduced many technologies. The Japanese company said that the car will not be marketed, but apart from the official statements, it is known that the car actually works and that has started the set-up tests, thanks to a collaboration with Magna.

While we await for other news, a lot of people already imagine an SUV version of this intriguing Japanese product.

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