Former BMW Executive Will Help With Apple's Car Plans
Jane Lu
· 3 min read
The electric vehicle (EV) market is hotter than ever, and there's a tech giant that plans to try their hand at a new electric
self-driving car
. According to
CNN
, Apple seems to be moving forward with its car project, and has its eye set on competing with Tesla and other large automakers. Apple is enlisting the help of a former BMW executive who might help produce Apple’s electric car.
Apple is bringing in expert help for their car project
Apple is known for their powerful and innovative computer tech and smartphones, but when it comes to designing vehicles, they’ll need some additional expertise. Apple turned to one of BMW's former executives to potentially help design its new EV.
Ulrich Kranz, who helped BMW achieve its EV dreams, is now joining Apple. Kranz led the development of the BMW i3, and left the company in 2016. He later became the CEO of Canoo, but recently resigned from the position.
It's unclear what role he will play just yet, but this news is a good indication that Apple is serious about developing an autonomous car. Apple has yet to confirm officially that they are working on electric and autonomous vehicles.
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Will the Apple Car become a reality?
So far, it doesn’t seem like Apple is working with any automakers to build their EVs. CNN reported that there were rumors that Kia and Hyundai were manufacturing a vehicle for Apple, but both companies said they have not been approached by Apple.
While Apple is being very quiet about its future plans, Kranz is one of many signs that the tech giant is continuing to work on an Apple Car. For example, Apple also acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup, in 2019. Vice President Doug Field who leads Apple’s "special projects group" has worked at Tesla, Ford, and Segway as the lead engineer.
Apple will be competing with Tesla
Apple has been successful with computers, tablets, and music, but it’s not hard to understand why they want to break into the EV market. The EV industry is becoming more profitable, and it’ll only continue to grow as
green vehicles
become more mainstream.If Apple builds an autonomous EV that is popular, it would help further cement Apple’s place as one of the biggest companies in the world. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been open about the fact that he wants Tesla to overtake Apple as the biggest tech company. Given how quickly Tesla has gone from a small startup to one of the top EV manufacturers on the market, this goal doesn’t seem impossible.
For consumers that are hoping to see Tesla and Apple collaborate on an EV, it might be more likely that their vehicles will be competitors in the future. Are you interested in buying an EV, but don’t want to overpay for car insurance? Let
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