Lukáš Čambala In recent months, Apple has significantly strengthened its working team on projects related to the automotive industry. According to some reports, he might build his own electric car, but these speculations have so far left Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, cold.
Just Apple brought many engineers from Tesla, however, according to Musk, these are not some of the most important employees his company had, as the magazine tried to imply Reuters. “Important engineers? They hired the people we fired. We always jokingly call Apple 'Tesla's Graveyard'. If you can't make it at Tesla, you go work for Apple. I'm not kidding,” he said in an interview with the German magazine Musk.
His cars - specifically the Tesla Model S or the latest Model X - are still at the forefront of electric car development, however, more and more companies are entering this segment of the automotive industry, and thus the competition for Musk's empire is growing. Apple could also join in a few years.
"It's good that Apple is heading and investing in this direction," said Musk, who pointed out, however, that the production of cars is much more complex than the production of phones or watches. "But for Apple, the car is the next logical thing to finally offer a major innovation. A new pencil or a bigger iPad is no longer in itself," says Musk, who is often compared to Steve Jobs thanks to his visionary and goal-oriented approach.
Yo, I don't hate Apple. It's a great company with a lot of talented people. I love their products and I'm glad they're doing an EV.
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2015
During the interview with Handelsblatt Musk couldn't hold back even a small jab at Apple. When asked if he was serious about Apple's ambitions, he replied with a laugh: "Have you ever looked at the Apple Watch?" However, as a big fan and user of Apple products, he later moderated his comments on Twitter. He certainly doesn't hate Apple. “It is a great company with many talented people. I love their products and I'm glad they're making an electric car," said Musk, who is not really impressed by the Apple Watch for now. “Jony and his team have created an amazing design, but the functionality is not yet convincing. That will be the case with the third version." assumes Musk.
In the field of electric cars, they really don't have to worry too much about Apple yet. If the iPhone maker ever comes out with its own car, it won't be for several years at the earliest. However, other automakers are already starting to rely on electric motors on a large scale, and although Tesla is still far ahead of everyone else in certain stages of development, everyone has to subsidize their cars significantly, so they will probably have to work diligently on their prominent position in the future.
It is very similar to what we have here. We - "Association for electromobility" also have our own burial ground.
those are pretty cocky words. I don't like people like that. I would laugh if Apple made their electric car and it was accepted by the public significantly better than Tesla..
I think Mr. Musk is a bunch of shit from Apple. After all, it's super strong and has a name that Tesla doesn't have yet as we speak.
erm, EM, kind of like Steve Jobs, and the fact that it's a technical file rather than a marketing one (which probably has a bigger impact on the quality of the product?),... apple currently has a problem with releasing a decent watch, let alone an electric car :DDDD
but I wonder if one day apple will release an iCar, so after regular iCarOS updates the car will have to be driven more slowly, or it will turn itself off on the highway, or it won't start until they patch it up....
well, I'd rather believe in this person who makes rockets for trips to space, than in a company that makes mobile phones and computers, where human life is not at stake ;]