Apple Working On Project That Will 'Give Tesla a Run for its Money' Says Employee

[Steve Williams]

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/09/apple-project-tesla-competitor/

 

[edorr]

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/09/apple-project-tesla-competitor/

Exciting stuff. We are going to see fleets of self driven cars, delivering "on demand" (the Uber model) transportation services. This model will improve automotive asser utilization by one or more orders of magniture and disrupt the automotive industry. Not a question of if, but when.

 

[Peter Breuninger]

In the future there will be self drive only zones, mostly around high population centers and on interstates. Cars as we know it will eventually become recreation and be only used in designated areas.

 

[edorr]

In the future there will be self drive only zones, mostly around high population centers and on interstates. Cars as we know it will eventually become recreation and be only used in designated areas.

We will also see much more virtual reality being beamed to peoples sensory system, replacing many a roadtrip (business and pleasure). What the compounded effect of digitization will be on demand for physical transportation is as of yet anyone's guess (e-doc did not replace the printer either).

 

[Mike Lavigne]

this is one of the few companies that can afford to lose lots of zeros trying to get into the car business.

Tesla had the taxpayer's help. otherwise it does take 'Apple' type money to do it.

and why not; they could do something grand.

 

[amirm]

I am confident they won't be getting in car business. You don't set up a car factory without the whole world knowing about it.

I think at best they could be getting into car infotainment business. The reference to Tesla can be that. And the people stolen about how far you could push the main screen in the car which in the future seems to be the dash screen.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I hope they don't...the next thing you'll know they'll be getting into making people food. An Apple a day! Some old commercial of theirs come to mind.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I am confident they won't be getting in car business. You don't set up a car factory without the whole world knowing about it.

I think at best they could be getting into car infotainment business. The reference to Tesla can be that. And the people stolen about how far you could push the main screen in the car which in the future seems to be the dash screen.

we have people from Microsoft, Apple and Google coming to the dealership every few months to test their mobile software with our newest models with all the connectivity. it's getting hard to know where the smart phones stop and the car interfaces begin. the biggest challenges are the lead time for auto design verses the rate of change with smart phones. but it keeps ratcheting forward somehow some way.

and now we have telematics which access smart phone connectivity to allow the car to communicate directly to Honda dealers about service issues.

 

[amirm]

we have people from Microsoft, Apple and Google coming to the dealership every few months to test their mobile software with our newest models with all the connectivity. it's getting hard to know where the smart phones stop and the car interfaces begin. the biggest challenges are the lead time for auto design verses the rate of change with smart phones. but it keeps ratcheting forward somehow some way.

and now we have telematics which access smart phone connectivity to allow the car to communicate directly to Honda dealers about service issues.

I think it is all super exciting. OEM electronics with the traditional lead times of 4-5 years just doesn't cut it anymore. Customers expect more. By tightly integrating with the smartphone the rate of innovation can sharply accelerate.

For the first time I am thinking about upgrading my car just for better infotainment system. No desire for more horsepower, etc. Just want a system that is easier and faster to use and integrate better with my smartphone. The experience of listening to my blogs for example is pretty horrid compared to what it could be. And as you say, there are tremendous advancements in telemetry and autonomous driving. It all brings a lot of excitement to the whole car market.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I think it is all super exciting. OEM electronics with the traditional lead times of 4-5 years just doesn't cut it anymore. Customers expect more. By tightly integrating with the smartphone the rate of innovation can sharply accelerate.

For the first time I am thinking about upgrading my car just for better infotainment system. No desire for more horsepower, etc. Just want a system that is easier and faster to use and integrate better with my smartphone. The experience of listening to my blogs for example is pretty horrid compared to what it could be. And as you say, there are tremendous advancements in telemetry and autonomous driving. It all brings a lot of excitement to the whole car market.

Honda does give us software updates for new smart phones quite often. every time there is a new phone we get some sort of update within 30 days.

it's all one 'google' or 'apple' world out there for the most part now.

 

[edorr]

I am confident they won't be getting in car business. You don't set up a car factory without the whole world knowing about it.

I think at best they could be getting into car infotainment business. The reference to Tesla can be that. And the people stolen about how far you could push the main screen in the car which in the future seems to be the dash screen.

Screw infotainment - steaming Kardashian into cars is the last thing we need. The challenge is to get car's off the road by improving capacity utilization of the fleet, and improve efficiency (i.e. energy consumption per mile). The guys as Tesla, Google, Uber and now hopefully Apple realize this and are addressing it. Disrupt the industry - creative destruction!

 

[Steve Williams]

Screw infotainment - steaming Kardashian into cars is the last thing we need. The challenge is to get car's off the road by improving capacity utilization of the fleet, and improve efficiency (i.e. energy consumption per mile). The guys as Tesla, Google, Uber and now hopefully Apple realize this and are addressing it. Disrupt the industry - creative destruction!

I'm not understanding how Uber fits in the puzzle

 

[edorr]

I'm not understanding how Uber fits in the puzzle

On demand driverless cars. Right now, the Uber fleet is human operated. Does not have to be. Imagine an iPhone app, two taps on the screen and a driverless car shows up on your doorsteps within 5 minutes. It is all part of the transtion from asset ownership to the service economy. Uber has a vision of making car ownership obsolete for many current owners. Driverless fleet fits the picture perfectly.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Screw infotainment - steaming Kardashian into cars is the last thing we need. The challenge is to get car's off the road by improving capacity utilization of the fleet, and improve efficiency (i.e. energy consumption per mile). The guys as Tesla, Google, Uber and now hopefully Apple realize this and are addressing it. Disrupt the industry - creative destruction!

careful what you ask for.

the automobile business is 20% of the economy; and 30%+ of most local tax bases. and then there is the road construction component.

people would need to change where they live in a dramatic way. it would take multiple generations. the whole sunbelt would be almost impossible to change. the northeast might be able to do it with it's Europe like density.

good luck for it becoming much more than theory.

some sort of tech breakthrough like cold fusion might change things, but absent of that it will be awhile.

I see it working in some isolated cases, but not much more than that for at least 100 years.

 

[Steve Williams]

There's just something about getting to the airport in a driverless car that somehow does't feel right but maybe that's just me

 

[edorr]

careful what you ask for.

the automobile business is 20% of the economy; and 30%+ of most local tax bases. and then there is the road construction component.

people would need to change where they live in a dramatic way. it would take multiple generations. the whole sunbelt would be almost impossible to change. the northeast might be able to do it with it's Europe like density.

good luck for it becoming much more than theory.

I see it working in some isolated cases, but not much more than that for at least 100 years.

Technology innovation will not be the constraint. The massive social and economic dislocation associatiated with this level of innovative disruption will be. We are pushing the limits as it is, with our economic system creating more net losers than winners - not a sustainable model for growth. We got to figure out the economics and social aspects - the technology will be there.

 

[edorr]

There's just something about getting to the airport in a driverless car that somehow does't feel right but maybe that's just me

Don't worry - it will feel perfectly right to a next generation. I personally like the concept a lot. Thenagain, I'm also not a vinyl guy.

 

[Steve Williams]

I can get used to the idea. How many commuter trains and shuttle trains at airports have no drivers

 

[beaur]

Steve,

If you have ever taken a taxi to or from one of the NYC airports you probably have wished at some point that the car was driverless.

There's just something about getting to the airport in a driverless car that somehow does't feel right but maybe that's just me

 

[edorr]

Steve,

If you have ever taken a taxi to or from one of the NYC airports you probably have wished at some point that the car was driverless.

I absolutely love chatting with my "ethnic" cabbies in NYC. Great lessons in life. Taxi driver also happens to be my favorite movie of all time.