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Apple Car Schematics Reportedly Presented to Japanese Auto Parts Maker in 2020

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In January 2020, a man who identified himself as an Apple parts manager informed Japanese auto supplier Sanden that Apple wanted to make electric vehicles, and presented schematics of an electric vehicle and air conditioner parts, according to Nikkei Asia.

vanarama apple car concept

Apple Car concept by Vanarama based on patents filed by Apple

Sanden is a leading manufacturer of air conditioner parts for vehicles, and Apple and Sanden went on to discuss specific parts requirements, the report claims. However, due to financial struggles worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanden filed for debt restructuring with its creditors in June 2020 and the Apple Car talks apparently faded.

While the report does not provide any further details about the talks between the two companies, it lends further credence to Apple's long-rumored electric vehicle ambitions.

In November 2021, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was accelerating its work on the project and aiming for an electric vehicle with full self-driving capabilities. Gurman said Apple was targeting a 2025 launch, but the project has faced numerous setbacks and key departures over the years, so the timeframe is not certain.

Tag: Nikkei
Related Forum: Apple, Inc and Tech Industry

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Top Rated Comments

S
steve333
58 months ago
If it looks anything like that picture it will be a quick exit from the market
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
cmaier
58 months ago

Yes, but they had Steve Jobs back then. Little Timmy is a genius bean counter, but he is no visionary.
Any time someone says “Timmy” and “bean counter” I know everything i need to know.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
djcerla
58 months ago
It’s almost laughable to picture Apple as a car manufacturer, but to me at least the car market in 2022 looks a lot like the cellphone market in 2007.

A huge opportunity for the “computer guys”.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
cmaier
58 months ago

It’s going to be forever till Apple car gets here. By then, Tesla would have taken the electric auto industry by a big margin. It’ll be very hard to catch up for Apple.

Meanwhile, Apple continues to lose more engineers.

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/12/08/apple-car-project-loses-3-engineers/

https://9to5mac.com/2021/12/08/bloomberg-apple-loses-even-more-engineers-from-its-car-project-team/
Apple continues to gain engineers, actually.

Did you also think Apple couldn’t make a dent in the phone industry? They came very late to that industry.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
nwcs
58 months ago
I wonder what Apple would have to do to get me to consider them as a viable vehicle option? Of course it depends greatly upon what they ultimately reveal and price but even then I’d be very wary.

For all the hype Tesla still doesn’t strike me as reliable enough and ergonomic enough for my preferences. Getting closer but the enthusiasm for the Tesla seems to be outpacing the reality.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
alpi123
58 months ago

If the price is right I’ll be the first one to get it with my Apple Card.

Where? Do you know know high-level engineers personally that have been working on the Apple car?

You can’t compare phone industry to the auto industry. They don’t even go together. The auto-industry has been out in this world for over 100+ years.

You forced me to do another Google search and this is what came up 🤥

https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/12/09/three-more-apple-car-engineers-leave-for-aviation-startups
Do you really think when an engineer leaves the company, Apple would just sit and do nothing? Lol, of course they would hire more engineers.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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