Apple Cancels Electric Car Project

[smirking]

They are inefficient and don’t have good ranges before they need time consuming charges. And they aren’t green.

People are making all sorts of roundabout rebuttals against this when there's a very very dirt simple reason why electric cars are less polluting overall. In a gas powered car, most of the fuel is lost as heat. Only a small amount of the energy produced in igniting fuel ends up moving you down the road whereas in an electric car, most of the energy store is translated into movement.

But... if everyone goes about buying the biggest electric cars possible to reward themselves for being more environmentally conscious and they start driving twice as much than before, then yeah it may not be as clear of a win as it seems.

 

[Surf Monkey]

they didn't need to build a revolutionary car, they didn't need to build an autonomous car, they just need to build a good car

I think that’s what they set out to do initially. I’m not sure when it became a self driving thing.

 

[DeepWebinar]

The iPhone of EVs already exists: Tesla, and Tim Cook realized that. Whenever people say they want an EV, they actually mean a Tesla. This is why Ford, GM, Mercedes have all failed miserably in comparison. The only competition is with Chinese EV companies and that's only for their domestic market.

you mean the expensive ugly cars with the weird handles that everyone makes fun of? the ones with the exploding windows that shut down on the highway and trap people inside when they’re not spontaneously catching fire?

yeah they’re killing it, i bet you’re right apple probably got scared.

 

[CharlieBoyWoof]

They are inefficient and don’t have good ranges before they need time consuming charges. And they aren’t green.

Well said, their footprint is environmentally horrendous, far more damaging than any gas car.

 

[Surf Monkey]

you mean the expensive ugly cars with the weird handles that everyone makes fun of? the ones with the exploding windows that shut down on the highway and trap people inside when they’re not spontaneously catching fire?

yeah they’re killing it, i bet you’re right apple probably got scared.

The best car Tesla ever made was the roadster. And compared to cars in its price range even it wan’t all that great.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Well said, their footprint is environmentally horrendous, far more damaging than any gas car.

Care to document that?

 

[Zest28]

Wall Street seems happy about this, the stock just jumped up

The stock probably jumped up because more people will be working on AI now.

 

[smirking]

Well said, their footprint is environmentally horrendous, far more damaging than any gas car.

This has been getting repeated a lot. It's false and it's an astroturf campaign.

There are some troubling aspects about the manufacturing, particularly the batteries, but the killer advantage EVs have is that most of the stored energy is translated into movement whereas in gas powered cars as little as 15% of the energy burned becomes movement. The rest just produces heat.

This said, I still drive a gas powered car because it's the same car I've been driving for almost 25 years. I don't need to drive much these days so the greenest car is the one I already own.

 

[skippermonkey]

Deleted

 

[Beautyspin]

So, they move a team that failed in one project in spite of unlimited funds to shore up another project and expect it not to fail. Good formula for success.

 

[sparkso]

Do Apple Roads, not cars.
Only Apple Roads can make all future EVs autonomous .

 

[Steve686]

I wonder what area decided viability was not achievable.

On their end, or on the consumer end?

With the recent bad publicity with ecars not being able to charge in the cold, and the current WH administration almost backtracking on its proposed ecar dynasty, I wonder if Apple sees there will ultimately be gas cars for decades to come.

Also wonder if the current presidential race building in favor of Trump being the nominee and having a good chance at reelection has made Apple back away from this waste of money and resources?

 

[decafjava]

Why do they need to go bye bye?
Say more …

Indeed I wonder as well.

 

[vladi]

Well Sony did it the right way, they partnered up with every automotive relevant tech company they could for their car.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

They are inefficient and don’t have good ranges before they need time consuming charges. And they aren’t green.

That’s completely incorrect and a classic comment I see a lot from people with no experience of driving electric cars. Range is fine for daily driving unless you’re driving over 300 miles per day and can’t stop for a 20 minute break. Charging is mostly done overnight when it’s cheap, I pay around £5 to get 200+ miles out of my car.

‘Aren’t green’?? Compared to what? Pretty sure my EV doesn’t produce emissions when I am driving it compared to a petrol or diesel car and the power used to charge it is from renewal energy. Compare that to the refining and drilling process for producing fuel. The manufacturing process for producing cars generally is about the same but unless you can find a clean way of mining and producing steel, it’s a necessary evil if you want the freedom of having your own vehicle.

 

[Manzanito]

The only thing I’ll miss is knowing the cost of this thing.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Well said, their footprint is environmentally horrendous, far more damaging than any gas car.

Interesting bit of fabrication there, as someone who designs for the automotive sector I’d be interested to hear you elaborate on that but highly doubt you will because what you have said is false.

 

[MRrainer]

Hmmm...I'd assume they would have just bought some other car company.

Foxconn builds cars these days.

You, too, can have your own branded car. Just like you can have your own Android phone brand ;-)

 

[uacd]

I knew they will do this. Good that at least they didn't announce the plans as it was with "wireless charging mat"

 

[icolove]

Why do they need to go bye bye?
Say more …

don't feed the troll.

 

[Frantisekj]

Electric cars are the future whether you like it or not. They're just not part of Apple's future, apparently.

They are heavily subsidized at least in Europe. They are essential part of digital dictatorship and 15 min cities hat is why they sell so well in China. They are everything but not green.

quoting from other source:

What you need to make Tesla battery:
12 tons of ore for lithium
5 tons of cobalt minerals
3 tons of ore for nickel
12 tons of copper ore

Move 250 tons of earth to get:
12 kg of lithium
15 kilos of nickel
22 kg of manganese
7.5 kilos of cobalt
200 kg of aluminum, steel and plastics.

A Caterpillar 994A used for loading soil consumes 1000 liters of diesel in 12 hours.

I don't count the carbon footprint for processing individual ores...

You will then receive a "zero emission" car.

The second biggest money making scam in human history.

It is still behind the sale of ....

 

[Anaxarxes]

Focus on software more. No margins in automobile sales.

It was never about margins on selling cars.

It was a new platform for sale of Apple Services.

 

[danny842003]

They are heavily subsidized at least in Europe. They are essential part of digital dictatorship and 15 min cities hat is why they sell so well in China. They are everything but not green.

quoting from other source:

What’s the environmental cost to get all the minerals out of the ground to produce an ICE?

 

[amartinez1660]

The iPhone of EVs already exists: Tesla, and Tim Cook realized that. Whenever people say they want an EV, they actually mean a Tesla. This is why Ford, GM, Mercedes have all failed miserably in comparison. The only competition is with Chinese EV companies and that's only for their domestic market.

You are getting droves of downvotes, but it doesn’t change the fact that many traditional car manufacturing companies are downscaling their EVs production targets.

Recent articles on that (checked a couple of Ford ones). And those that manufacture batteries are also scaling back their plans.

EDIT: Looks like we have a bunch of people here that lack the reading news and searching skills. These are Ford centric but it’s all around the same for most American companies.

Ford downsizes EV battery factory plan | TechCrunch

Ford will downsize its plans to build a factory in Michigan that makes cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries using tech from China’s CATL.

techcrunch.com

Ford hits the brakes on $12 billion in EV spending because EVs are too expensive

Customers don’t want to spend extra on Ford’s EVs.

www.theverge.com

Ford halves 2024 electric F-150 production plans on slowing demand

Ford is cutting 2024 production goals in half for its F-150 Lightning EV pickup truck on slowing demand for battery-powered models. Read on.

financialpost.com

Cry or laugh all you want, it isn’t funny or untrue just because you decided to react to it in one way or another. It’s actually very serious and a setback on advancements on this front for classic American companies and EVs in general.

 

[decafjava]

What’s the environmental cost to get all the minerals out of the ground to produce an ICE?

Indeed and someday the petrol will run out.