Apple has reportedly been in talks with BMW about using its i3 vehicle as the basis of an electric car, according to German-language publication Manager Magazin (translation). Since February, there has been a slew of reports about Apple's interest in the automotive industry. It reportedly has hundreds of employees working on the project, codenamed "Project Titan." There's no guarantee that we will ever see a commercial release, but the Cupertino company is clearly increasingly interested in the space. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-reportedly-considering-using-bmw-i3-for-electric-car-base-2015-7#ixzz3h65pdViv
If the iCar is a city car/Car2Go type car for San Francisco or Seattle in this shape it'd be fine. Outside that I don't see it competing very well if it uses i3 platform.
With the size of the iPhone perseverator herd the car will sell as long as it is white with an apple logo on it, LMFAO.
And Tesla will is talking to Samsung about developing a super high speed Smartphone that will run for a year without a charge If you believe this kind of media nonsense I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.
What is being missed in this discussion is that - Apple is probably interested in CF rather than i3 per se. How would you like to buy a Model 3 type car - but one with CF ? Apple certainly has the money to create a much bigger "supercharger" network than Tesla.
What's CF? Apple has lots of money... but not time to design a car, build a factory and charger network.
What if they where actually interested in the i8? :smile: Yep, my thoughts exactly. If Apple were building a car they wouldn't be looking to reproduce the i3 (or i8)--they prefer their own designs. But the BMW all carbon fiber light weight chassis is something worth looking at. Tesla and any other EV manufacturer should be looking as well. The i3 is the most efficient car on the road for a reason--and it isn't BMW's electric drivetrain or cutting edge aerodynamics. It's all about the weight. Also consider that Apple may be looking to build non-car parts out of carbon fiber as well. BMW's carbon fiber process is worth a look.
Carbon fiber is an awesome material - but mostly hand-laid today. Boeing and BMW are both doing a lot of work in figuring out how to make parts more like injection molding. Boeing in particular is working on how to recycle and reuse the resins as well as fibers, so keeping those materials out of landfills (notice you never see aluminum lying around a landfill $$$).
When Apple licences access to Tesla's sc network it will be a huge deal (very good for Tesla and for Apple). Apple will sell a ton of cars, because Apple could sell sand in the desert, and i just don't see them trying to build a competing charging network. Tesla can use the cash infusion to build out the network at record speeds.