A mysterious van with rooftop cameras and leased to Apple walking the streets of California
In a recent article called Apple ready to produce its own electric car?, I mentioned about the intention of Apple to enter the electric vehicle market by producing its own electric vehicle.
New data have appeared in this case so it is time to talk about them here.
Some rumors say that Apple’s Titan project involves a minivan, which was seen on the streets of San Francisco, this week, but without an official confirmation, we cannot be sure of this.
Anyway, by entering the crowded electric car market, Apple will face competitors like Tesla, Google, Nissan and many others.
The truth is that Steve Jobs had a vision a few years ago, about an electric vehicle created by Apple, a car where Apple users can interface.
As we know, many Apple products are way different than other similar products from the market, so this electric car must be as well different, must be something unique.
We heard that Apple offers to Tesla workers a 60% salary increase if they come to work on the Titan project along with other former employees from Ford and Mercedes-Benz.
So this project must be something big, or maybe it is just a clever marketing move to get people talking about, and keeping a mysterious mist around the project.
Some say that the way of how they have reinvented the mobile phone, the way that they created the special Apple apps for all Apple users, all these things announce that their electric car will be something like a big iPhone equipped with wheels and using an electric engine that is able not only to transport people from one place to another, but is able to create a connection between users through an interface, and can create also a connection between the car and other Apple products.
We know that our mobile phones are able now to hold all our documents, so we can imagine what an Apple vehicle can do, the sky is the limit here.
It seems that the major problem in this project yet is the battery system.
The Apple vehicle will use an electric motor so it needs an electric battery which is able to offer a decent range.
We also know that studies are made now to develop the next generation of batteries, so who knows if the new car will not be equipped with such future batteries as well.
Another concern might be related to the battery charging stations.
Especially if the range is small (a minivan is heavier than a regular car and less aerodynamic, so it will consume more energy), they must provide charging stations all over the U.S. from the beginning, and then all over the world.
Maybe we need to wait a few more years before the Apple electric vehicle will become truly available for all of us, but who knows, if they invent a better battery which provides a huge range of the vehicle, we might see the iCar or iRide much sooner.