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Comment by ibero | Hacker News Reader

i find it interesting that the project is described as the "autonomous, electric-vehicle initiative." isn't there a compelling enough productin the electric vehicle aspect, without the autonomous piece as well?

or does apple believe that the "autonomous" component is the real stand out feature?

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It really doesn't make sense for Apple to manufacture traditional cars - they're expensive to produce, have steep support requirements, allow limited driver interaction points to avoid distraction, etc. Apple's strength is in combining hardware and software in a way that makes interaction intuitive. If you have to actually drive your car, there's not a whole lot of room for that beyond what's already being done with CarPlay. It makes a lot more sense to create an autonomous vehicle and treat the entire cabin as an interactive experience that people will spend hours a day playing with and spending money in.

"It makes a lot more sense to create an autonomous vehicle and treat the entire cabin as an interactive experience that people will spend hours a day playing with and spending money in."

Would be cool if Apple skipped the "car" and went straight to a stylish and modern "RV", basically a small apartment that can also drive you around (autonomously).

Look at this RV tour and imagine something that's a bit bigger in living space (but same size overall (no big engine, no drivers area etc)): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tylz5sfCAOc

It might not be realistic yet, but in a few years maybe, especially if solar panels gets better. Which i'm guessing Apple is doing a lot of research on as we speak...

And if you loose/somebody tows it, you'd just log on to iCloud and use the "Find my House" feature ;-)

With a product targeted at 2021 and which will likely see delays, not building in autonomy from the start likely means that it'll be behind the curve when it ships. "Skate to where the puck is going" and all that.

By 2021, (hopefully) the primary mode of individual transportation in developed cities will be using your phone/watch/R2D2 to call a self-driving electric car to your location.

Things have already begun to fall into place for that reality.

The cars might then use AI/ML/networking to optimize their individual routes and schedules for their daily passengers, to ensure a continuously smooth flow of traffic.

Few people may even need to own a personal car.

What might Apple's advantage be in that world? The same as today I guess; seamless cross-device integration and maybe an ecosystem of in-car apps. Would it be enough to compel someone to purchase their own, likely very expensive, car?

Whether the cars are individually owned or shared, somebody's going to have to build them. Apple could easily sell into a shared pool too, if that's how things are by then. (Although I think you're 3-5x too optimistic for how long it'll take to get there.)

> Although I think you're 3-5x too optimistic for how long it'll take to get there.

Yes, well, skate to where the puck is going and all that.

> By 2021, (hopefully) the primary mode of individual transportation in developed cities will be using your phone/watch/R2D2 to call a self-driving electric car to your location.

In 5 years? Unlikely.

> What might Apple's advantage be in that world?

If the world changed that fast, then instead of trying to sell cars, Apple would just create their own car service, and integrate it with iOS/Apple Maps/Siri/etc., and everyone in the Apple ecosystem would seamlessly also be on Apple personal transportation platform. (At least, in the places that service had rolled out, which would probably be chosen in order by the density and likely transport profitability of the existing Apple ecosystem population.)

I think this is insightful: Apple doesn't need to sell automated EVs, they just need them to exist, and be Apple-y. Which probably means doing all the design and prototyping in-house, and then outsourcing final manufacturing to a Foxconn-equivalent with Apple QA.

The timeline seems optimistic, but 2025 could be feasible in key cities.

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