Article/Teng Sanmao
Produced by Che Tuteng, please indicate the source when reprinting
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Thousands of voices Come on, the Apple car is finally coming.
We have known for a long time that Apple has begun to develop cars internally, with the project code-named "Titan". The market has always believed that Apple is holding back a big move.
Every new Apple product is full of mystery before release and rarely disappoints fans. Although the price is relatively expensive, it is a high-end product in itself. Coupled with Apple's advanced technological innovation, there are still long queues in stores every time a new product is released, and even the official website is difficult to buy. Perhaps this is what Apple Car wants.
Recently, Apple Car finally has reliable news.
According to Taiwan’s Economic Daily, Apple’s first electric car, the Apple Car prototype, has been tested on the road in California, USA, and will be released in September in the third quarter of next year. It is faster than originally expected. Planning goes at least two years in advance.
According to quoted supplier sources, Apple has followed the practice of preparing iPhone materials starting from components and expediting shipments. Taiwan's auto parts companies have put forward stocking requirements and included relevant players in the first wave of supply chains. In order to cope with the demand for Apple Car stocking, manufacturers such as Heda and Bizlian have fully "sold orders".
▍Accumulate and make progress
Over the years, Apple’s Project Titan is one of its most mysterious long-term projects, involving numerous technological and theoretical innovations for the era of electric vehicles. As the saying goes, "I only see patent applications, but no new cars are released."
Industry insiders said that the reason why Apple’s car confidentiality work is so good is because Apple has sufficient capital guarantees and does not have to keep clamoring for financing like Tesla and FF.
In 2014, three years after Steve Jobs passed away, the Apple Titan project was approved with the rhetoric of "giving Tesla a head-on blow", and Apple's car business officially began. In 2015, an unnamed Apple employee revealed that "Apple is developing a product that can compete with Tesla."
People familiar with the matter revealed at the time that Apple Car recruited hundreds of employees to start "building the car". The project code was "Titan" and the team would be located in a private location a few miles away from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. work locally.
Later in 2018, the Apple car project was put in the spotlight for the first time when former Apple engineer Zhang Xiaolang was sued for allegedly stealing the company’s trade secrets related to autonomous driving. Relevant legal documents show that the technologies involved by Apple include advanced batteries and in-car electronic equipment.
In October of that year, the news that Apple was building a car was further confirmed. Former Tesla Senior Vice President Doug Field's LinkedIn identity information has been changed to - VP of Apple's Special Projects Group (hereinafter referred to as "SPG"). After Doug Field disclosed his identity, some media immediately discovered that according to incomplete statistics from LinkedIn, there are nearly 1,200 employees under the name of Apple SPG, of which more than 300 are from Tesla and more than 170 are from Ford.
Chris Godes, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, once lamented: "As long as you find that any automotive-related executive in Silicon Valley suddenly leaves and their whereabouts are unknown, they will probably go to Apple."
This time, relevant suppliers have been rumored to have started stocking up and operating, which shows that Apple’s car-making process has reached the most critical step before mass production.
Judging from the information currently available, Apple has decided to purchase the basic elements of the system from external partners, including lidar sensors (which help self-driving cars obtain a 3D road view), but it is not clear which company. The company will assemble Apple cars. Another source said it was still possible that Apple would only install its self-driving system in cars built by traditional automakers, rather than sell Apple-branded vehicles.
▍ Equipped with a breakthrough battery?
A source familiar with Apple's battery design said that the core of Apple's strategy is a new battery design, which can "significantly" reduce battery costs and increase vehicle cruising range. Apple plans to use a unique "monocell" design to free up space inside the battery pack and increase the number of cells in the battery pack by eliminating protective bags and modules that contain battery materials.
Apple’s design means that more active materials can be accommodated in the battery, giving the car a longer driving range. The company is also considering using a chemical called lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in its batteries, which is inherently less prone to overheating and therefore safer than other lithium-ion batteries. The person said: "This is a new level, just like the first time you see the iPhone."
However, regarding reports that Apple is developing lithium iron phosphate car batteries, Musk said: "If it is Really, that's weird. Tesla already uses iron phosphate in the cars it makes in its Shanghai factory. It's electrochemically impossible because the maximum voltage is too low. Maybe they're referring to the cells. Combined, it’s like our structural battery pack? ”
▍Tesla’s biggest rival?
In 2020, after a short period of twists and turns, Tesla’s stock price has been rising. The stock price has soared from less than 100 US dollars per share to nearly 700 US dollars per share. The total market value has exceeded 650 billion US dollars, becoming the “most beautiful company” in Silicon Valley. It’s no exaggeration to say that 2020 is the “Year of Tesla”, which means it will lead the way.
The news of Apple cars has brought Tesla back to reality somewhat.
On the day when the media reported that Apple Car was about to be released, Tesla's stock price plunged sharply, with the closing price falling 6.5 points from the previous trading day's new high, the largest single-day drop in a week. Netizens shouted: Tesla, your opponent is here.
Industry body Refinitiv data said that Tesla’s stock price fell by 0.1 percentage point in the S&P 500 index’s 0.4 decline that day. Tesla is the most valuable company ever in the S&P 500, accounting for a 1.69 weighting in the index before trading on Dec. 21.
This week, Musk said on Twitter that he had indeed wanted to sell Tesla to Apple, but Apple CEO Tim Cook was not even willing to sit down for a meeting to discuss it.
He tweeted: "During the darkest days of the Model 3 project, I contacted Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 10 cents of its current market value). (about 60 billion U.S. dollars), but he refused to hold a meeting to discuss it.”
On January 9, 2007, the Masconi Convention Center in San Francisco, USA, was witnessed by developers and loyal fans from all over the world. Next, Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone - the smartphone came to this world. With the subsequent rise of 3G network, the mobile Internet era swept the world.
Due to the success of the iPhone and the software and service system based on this device, Apple has become the world's most valuable company and the most profitable company for a long time. Apple's genes and business model determine that the company will enter the field of smart cars, which happens to be Tesla's area of ??strength.
Currently, it seems that electric vehicles are the only end products in the world that can achieve mass production of a high-performance AI computing chip based on necessity, physical properties, and price affordability. Smart cars will be the mainstream terminals in the future that can support high-performance AI computing. With high-performance computing chips as the foundation, there will be the next generation of computing, the next generation of operations, and the next generation of interactions.
From this perspective, it is only a matter of time before Apple, which has money and technology, builds a car.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.