When I first started speculating on the idea of an Apple car last February as rumors about Project Titan emerged, I was enormously skeptical that it would ultimately happen. However in the days since Apple’s most recent media event where they announced the iPhone 6s, I’ve begun to rethink my assessment. I now see a way that might lead to Apple’s entry into the car business based on their latest approach to selling smartphones.
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Nine years ago, I was beginning my career as a professional writer just as a little Silicon Valley startup was emerging from stealth mode to introduce its first product. Taking its name from one of the greatest engineers and inventors of all time, Nicola Tesla, that company reignited the pursuit of battery electric vehicles with a heavily modified Lotus Elise chassis packed with 1,000-pounds of lithium ion cells. It would take another two years before paying customers would finally take delivery of the first Roadsters and another four after that before Tesla would finally deliver its first completely in-house developed product, the Model S. During a recent trip to California I finally got my chance to drive the insanely fast Tesla Model S P85D.
If the mainstream media in America talks about battery electric cars at all, it usually has something to do with the latest outrageous pronouncement from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. However, unless you live in the wealthy enclaves of Silicon Valley or southern California, chances are pretty good that you’ve never even seen a Tesla Model S much less driven one. Most of the rest of us will never be able to afford a Model S even we could find a place to buy one. For the rest of us that want to drive emissions-free there are a number of very good and increasingly affordable options including South Korea’s first entry into the segment, the Kia Soul EV.
In November 2008, I sat with a group of journalists on a hotel terrace in Beverly Hills to learn about BMW’s Project i which had the aim of a building a 21st century megacity car. In the middle of the terrace sat a fairly conventional-looking grey MINI hatchback that frankly didn’t look all that advanced. However, the lessons learned from that car and the other 500 examples just like it, led directly to the BMW’s first true, next-generation automobile, the i3.
In recent days, the speculation that Apple, Inc. has embarked on an effort to develop and produce cars has blown up all over the internet. If indeed Apple is doing this, they come at this market segment as the industry may be entering the most transformational period in its near 130 year history. I believe Apple can do some very interesting things in this field in the near term, but it’s not at all clear if the company behind the Mac and iPhone has the traits to succeed in the long run. Even if Apple does succeed in the near-term, Tesla is likely to be the first automaker to feel the pain.
The auto industry is scrambling right now to develop future cars capable of driving themselves, taking the humans completely out of the loop. As I’ve discussed previously, there are still a great many technical issues to resolve before we can turn over full control of our mobility needs to sensors, actuators and algorithms. It may in fact be decades before we have fully autonomous general purpose vehicles that can go anywhere.The era of personal vehicle ownership may be coming to an end
Eight years after the debut of of the original Chevrolet Volt concept at the 2007 North American International Auto Show and four years after the production launch, General Motors is ready to publicly debut the all-new second generation model. I was part of a group that got an early look at the GEN2 Volt along with the leaders of the Volt team a few days before the big show.
Then vs Now
Eight years ago, the car we saw was a pure concept, powered by golf cart motor alongside a mockup of what the E-Flex propulsion system would look like if GM actually opted to build one. The whole idea had only been thought up about nine months by former GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz and then-VP of program management Jon Laukner. Lutz and Laukner had been spitballing ideas for how to respond to the negative publicity around the film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and the result was a extended-range electric vehicle (ER-EV). There were no firm plans at the time to actually produce the car.
2014 Nissan Leaf SV
Somehow in the eight years since I started writing about cars I’ve driven lots of electric vehicles but have never managed to spend an extended period with one until now. Having now spent a week with a 2014 Nissan Leaf SV, I can say that it’s a very good car regardless of how its propelled. That doesn’t mean it’s the best car for everyone in search of a compact hatchback, but for those whose lifestyles overlap with the limitations of today’s battery technology it’s a great choice.