A new report from TF International Securities’ uber-analyst Ming-Chi Kuo potentially provides some interesting Apple Car specs.
He reiterates recent reports that Hyundai will be the key manufacturing partner for the Apple Car, but goes on to say that the vehicle will use the company’s electric car chassis known as E-GMP.
Hyundai announced the chassis a couple of months ago, with some impressive specs. Range is shown as over 300 miles on a full charge, and fast-charging gets it up to 80% capacity within 18 minutes. You can top up the range by up to 60 miles with just a five-minute fast-charge.
Exciting as it is to get some tentative specifications on the predicted Apple Car, Kuo’s note does caution that it will take some years to develop.
We predict that Apple will launch the Apple Car in 2025 at the earliest. The new iPhone takes about 18–24 months from initial specification definition to mass production based on experience. Given the longer development time, higher validation requirements, more complicated supply chain management, and very different sales/after-sales service channels for the automobiles, we believe that Apple, which lacks car building experience, is already on a tight schedule if it wants to launch the Apple Car in 2025.
MacDailyNews Take: Hyundai describes their Dedicated EV Platform “E-GMP” thusly:
Designed exclusively for BEVs, E-GMP provides various advantages compared to the Group’s existing platforms, which have each been engineered predominantly to accommodate internal combustion engines. Benefits include increased development flexibility, powerful driving performance, increased driving range, strengthened safety features, and more interior space for occupants and luggage…
E-GMP reduces complexity through modularization and standardization, allowing rapid and flexible development of products which can be used across most vehicle segments, such as sedans, SUVs and CUVs. Moreover, flexible development can satisfy various customer needs for vehicle performance. Among these, a high performance model will accelerate from zero to 100kph in less than 3.5 seconds and achieve a maximum speed of 260km/h…
E-GMP is engineered to offer improved cornering performance and driving stability at high speed. This is due to optimal weight distribution between front and rear, a design which enables a low center of gravity thanks to its low-mounted battery pack, and the adoption of electric motors located in the space previously occupied by an engine.
The high-speed electric motor raises the driving performance of E-GMP vehicles. A five-link rear suspension system, which is typically used for mid and large sized vehicle segments, and the world’s first mass-produced integrated drive axle (IDA), which combines wheel bearings with the drive shaft to transmit power to the wheels, enhance ride comfort and handling stability.
The platform secures battery safety through a battery support structure made of ultra-high strength steel. Hot-stamped steel components surround this structure for additional rigidity. Collision energy can be absorbed efficiently thanks to energy-absorbent sections of the body and chassis, effective energy load paths, and a central section of the battery pack tightly bound to the vehicle body…
Additionally, a standardized battery system can be tuned to offer performance appropriate for a specific vehicle segment, to maximize driving range, or to meet various customer needs.
The motor is controlled by the inverter power module, which adopts silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors. This motor can enhance system efficiency by around 2~3 percent, which means the vehicle can be driven for approximately 5 percent longer on the same battery energy.
More info here.
MacDailyNews Take: Certainly, these are acceptable Apple Car specs, but Apple never does anything off-the-rack. Expect some innovation(s) that only Apple can bring to the market or the company would not continue the project to fruition.
Is The Apple Car a distraction to hide another project?
Yes it is. And I know what it is.
It won’t be long before Apple completely transforms the vacuum cleaner industry.
Yes. Supply chain leaks claim the Apple Candle I will be the world’s first (and even after Samsung copies it, thinnest) electronic candle.
looks like apple playing catchup.
range: 520 top soeed: 200 0-60 1.99 seconds
Just as iPhone is much more than a “phone,” Apple Car will be much more than just a car. In a way, I consider it to be Apple’s first robot.
This little scrap of speculation seems a pretty thin basis for a story. I want to think that Apple can do better than this. I want the specs of any Apple Car to dazzle. I don’t need a car that goes double the speed limit of both places. It’s ridiculous to even put that metric out there. And more range would be better, obviously.
Apple is planning to make a car that runs on coal and natural gas? Apple is planning to make a car that requires slave labor to mine lithium in the poorest African countries?
I used to love Apple products. Then Tim Cook turned Apple into an evil company that censors its own customers and enjoys putting little “good companies” out of business, just so conservatives are prevented from communicating. Now I say, Fuck Apple.
Tim took Apple straight down into Hell, and that monstrous spaceship is Satan’s portal.
https://107daily.com/upload/photos/2021/02/zJhewp6bfgphyGXuLHyF_03_0952696681d4ebdb0f8ac893b233198b_image.jpeg
A 300 mile range several years from now won’t be a great “feature”. Even now, it’s not something to brag about. So I think that number is wrong, particularly since Apple has been spending a LOT of money on battery R&D.
Not so sure that I would care about the 160mph either, unless this is a two seat sports.
Agree. Toyota has been getting praise for their not-yet-available solid state car battery that gets 300 mile range, and now this. Lucid and Tesla both have 400-500 mile ranges available, not sure what the hype is here. Although, the quicker charging time is nice.
Yea, let’s just ignore the rare earth minerals needed for all those batteries and all that coal burning for electricity.
Dumb asses.