Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Cancels Electric Car Project

Plutonius said:
I think you are making an incorrect assumption as far as most people being able to use a 4-5kw charger.

I suppose that I could get a 1000+ ft extension cord and put if from my apartment window down to the parking lot :).
Click to expand...

I am not saying that part or making that assumption.

I am more referring to an infrastructure issue we have and we need to strongly encourage apartments and multi family units to start building them. Big time on new construction as the cost to retro fit much higher compared to the cost of day one planning it.

I agree EVs are not for everyone right now but the issue people put up as road blocks are heavy BS.

Long term we need to put 4-5kw chargers at at least 1 per unit at apartments
 
  • Like
Reactions: addamas
Tagbert said:
EVs are massively more efficient than ICEVs.

They are green. Yes, it takes more energy to produce them initially but, because of their efficiency, it only takes about 12K miles to pay off the energy investment and start to use less energy.

Electricity production is greener than burning gasoline. With an EV, even if you are running from a power grid that is 100% coal, it still is only responsible for about the same CO2 as a 50mpg ICEV. Very, very few power grids are that dirty. The average US power grid uses less than 18% coal and that number is dropping every year.

A lot of EVs have ranges around 300 miles. That is about what our gas powered vehicle gets. The better EVs can top off the battery from 10% to 80% in about 20 minutes. Newer battery chemistries promise faster charges. Most EV drivers can just plug in at home and are fully charged every day. The fast charging is mainly useful on road trips. That charging network still has some holes but is building out rapidly.
Click to expand...
EVs require massive amounts of lithium and “rare earth metals” to produce. There is a reason most batteries come from China. No one else wants to strip mine their countries. Range drops considerably in cold weather. That 300 mile battery drops to 180 miles or less. Fast charging shortens battery life.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Angry
Reactions: Tagbert, Plutonius, Exponent and 2 others
Was so stupid of them to try to get into cars. I never thought they would actually come out with it. The most hilarious part was when it was reported they were trying to make it fully autonomous. I had believed it would be possible for a year or two in the 2010s, but after I gave it a few minutes of thought I think it's pretty obvious that fully self-driving vehicles (as in, no steering wheel or other controls) are simply incompatible with our current transportation system. For it to work well, you'd have to build roads that are compatible with self-driving vehicles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Morod
tobybrut said:
Good move. Apple never should have even thought about getting into the electric car business. Not only are the margins thin to non-existent, but nobody wants an electric car. Every car manufacturer is cutting back on EV’s with some discussing bringing back hybrids all due to the lack of demand. Demand being low plus high prices and few charging stations around just means billions of dollars lost. Unfortunately, Apple’s probably already sunk billions into this aborted project, but at least they were wise enough to get out now before spending billions more. They’re better off letting someone else build a car while supplying CarPlay software to the auto makers.

If this has to do with self-driving, it’s a high risk field where I don’t think we’ll reach level 4, let alone level 5, for at least a couple more decades. I’m a big fan of my car’s level 2 driving system, but I doubt I’d ever be comfortable with anything over a level 3.

Without massive improvements in battery technology, EV’s will continue to be a low-selling product.
Click to expand...

There is a lot of falsehoods in it.

Demand for EVs is not dropping it’s still increasing. The miss match from the major manufacturers is they over estimate the demand ramp up. People are taking the pull back as demand crashing when in reality it is pulling back to more line up with the current demand increase. They are not reducing what they are producing just not ramping up as fast.

There is a huge difference
 
  • Like
Reactions: danny842003, bluespark and Victor Mortimer
Surf Monkey said:
You’re both talking about different use cases. EV is great for an urban or suburban drive. Not as good the more rural your living arrangement is.
Click to expand...

I'd say EV has an excellent rural use case. No worries about getting to distant gas stations, your pickup truck is filled up every morning. Less towing range than a diesel doesn't matter when all you're pulling is your farm equipment from one field to another at low-ish speeds.

The next battery tech jump will be the end of the ICE.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hagar
jz0309 said:
Makes total sense, “steering wheel-less” cars will not be allowed for another decade at least, and entering a market that will be dominated by Chinese car mfgs is not profitable enough…
Click to expand...
I gather right now the problem is energy rather than regulation. The algorithms for driverless car exist, but the hardware required chews up so much energy that it is a serious issue.
 
The project was never meant to build a vehicle, IMO. It was to work on something similar to Android’s car platform that GM is using, but they seem to have hit the sweet spot without having to chase low margin manufacturing.

Now say it with me. Apple is NOT buying Kia. Just like they are NOT buying Disney, Netflix, Nintendo, Sony, or McDonalds or any other ridiculous idea people floated.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ToyoCorollaGR
Maybe this has already been said somewhere in these replies, but in my opinion, maybe Apple is discontinuing their EV car project, possibly because the long-term market for EV's in general may not be as great as originally thought. I am not judging anybody who wants or purchases an EV, but in my case, I will not buy one for the foreseeable future, and I am sure not as h-- going to pay 100k for one (even if I had that kind of money to spend on a vehicle). Maybe Apple has determined that the market is not there at this time for another new high-end EV.
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: hagar and IG88
jca666us said:
Why is no one thinking of the obvious - maybe Apple will purchase one of the struggling EV makers?

Lucid would be a perfect fit. Lucid’s technology with Apple’s software and manufacturing/marketing expertise would help Lucid drop the cost of their cars and put the hurt on Tesla.
Click to expand...
It's not obvious because there aren't going to do that...
 
MacRumors said:


Apple has canceled all plans to release an autonomous, electric vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been working on an Apple Car for more than a decade and invested millions of dollars into development before deciding it was not a viable project.

Apple-car-wheel-icon-feature-yellow.jpg

Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams today told approximately 2,000 employees working on the Apple Car that the project was canceled, and the information reportedly came as a surprise.

Work on the Apple Car is winding down and many of the people that were working on the car will move to Apple's artificial intelligence division to work on generative AI under AI chief John Giannandrea.

There are a number of hardware engineers and car designers that were on the Apple Car team, and there will be layoffs. Some of the employees may be able to shift to other divisions within the company.

Earlier this year, there were rumors that the Apple Car project had been scaled back, with Apple abandoning plans for a full driverless car with autonomous capabilities. Apple shifted focus to an electric vehicle with fewer self-driving features, and the vehicle would have been on par with Tesla's technology. Apple was aiming to release the car sometime around 2026, but now those plans have been shelved completely.

News of the Apple Car first surfaced in 2014, and since then, the project has been rife with problems. The focus of the work has changed and evolved multiple times, and Apple has had several leadership changes due to internal strife. Apple Watch chief Kevin Lynch took over the project in 2021, and he worked to scale down the project while still putting out a viable car.

According to Bloomberg, senior Apple executives made the decision to wind down the Apple Car project in recent weeks.

Article Link: Apple Cancels Electric Car Project
Click to expand...
I told you so. Apple was never going to make a car. The whole thing was ridiculous.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IG88
1129846 said:
There is a lot of falsehoods in it.

Demand for EVs is not dropping it’s still increasing. The miss match from the major manufacturers is they over estimate the demand ramp up. People are taking the pull back as demand crashing when in reality it is pulling back to more line up with the current demand increase. They are not reducing what they are producing just not ramping up as fast.

There is a huge difference
Click to expand...
After getting off to a bit of a hot start, Ford F-150 Lightning sales have faltered as of late, declining by 46 percent in Q3 while used examples are languishing on dealer lots longer than most EVs. Now that early adopters have their pickups, others are seemingly turned off by high prices and Ford EVs in general,
Click to expand...

After early adopter EV kool-aid guzzlers got theirs, the demand crashed HARD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Plutonius and Exponent
JoeG4 said:
* Apple Car is a convertible. Just like a Jeep Wrangler it offers a ragtop or a hard top. It comes with neither. The ragtop is $7,999 and the hard top attaches with chrome connectors and costs $29,999.

* Use of the Apple Car requires an iPhone or Apple Vision Pro running the latest version of the OS. If a new update comes out and your car automatically downloads the update, you won't be able to use the car until you update your phone.

* Family Sharing is enabled by default. You can share your Apple Car with up to 5 family members. Doing so also requires you to give full access to your Apple Card and other banking methods. Don't feel comfortable with that? Tell them to buy their own Apple Car!

* If you don't have an iCloud subscription your car will nag you every time you turn it on

I think the thing we all missed out on was, the car would be no better than a Honda Civic and it would cost like a Ferrari.
Click to expand...
Dont forget the doble factor autentification if you want to use the rearview mirror
 
Apple cant make a fully autonomous/steering wheel-less vehicle and guarantee 100% safety and neither will Tesla.

Also if Apple ended up dropping a half-measure EV that isnt much different from the competition, people would've been disappointed anyway. The "autonomous" EV market isn't worth entering because it's already hit a dead end.
 
hagar said:
You seem to be under the impression that we have the luxury to leapfrog a couple of tech cycles to switch to the perfect transportation vehicle. Read the climate reports. We don’t. We’re still driving cars with century old tech. Time to move on. Even if batteries are not perfect.
Click to expand...
You seem to be under the impression that there is enough materials on earth to increase the production of battery powered vehicles x20. Read the reports… there’s not. There is no “moving on” until you have an alternative.

Even if by some miracle found enough raw materials to extract for the entire U.S., E.U. Canada and Japanese markets, it would be offset by India, China, Africa and S.E. Asia and the increase in maritime, aviation and heavy freight.

Moreover, while the electric vehicle, once produced is quite a bit cleaner, the manufacturing process is significantly more carbon intensive than ICE vehicles.

And then there’s the biggest issue: there’s simply not enough energy. The only viable solution would be to immediately invest in nuclear energy, either by new modern plants, or modular nuclear. In the U.S. alone, you need 22 new plants just to keep up with demand, and it takes 20+ years to build a conventional plant. That’s if you can secure the funding and begin the work TODAY.

So you see, I have done my research, and it appears, you have not.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: bluespark, Plutonius, Exponent and 3 others
mdatwood said:
This car project always felt questionable/confused with CarPlay to me.
Click to expand...
Agreed

I mean, if they already have had CarPlay around for as long as they have, why did they think that they needed to make a whole car aside from it?

Pretty much any car that supports it can be an Apple car thanks to it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back