Elon Musk's Tesla Has A New Competitor And You Will Be Surprised

The company could be the key to Apple’s up-and-coming innovation.

Image: Electrek

Apple, once a computer company in the 1980s is now about to become a car company. Apple has been rumored to be secretly working on a consumer electric vehicle since around 2015–2016. At first, nobody believed the rumors, and people found it ridiculous.

But that was 4 years ago. Turns out there’s really no smoke without fire.

According to Wikipedia,

By February 2015, it was rumored that a substantial number of Apple employees were working on an electric car project,[15][16] with Apple hiring new employees for the project as well.[17] Reports in February 2015 indicated that the company had been offering incentives to Tesla employees to join Apple.[18] In February 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that the product would resemble more of a minivan than a car,[15] and The Sydney Morning Herald said at that time that production could start as soon as 2020.[19][20]

In February 2015, Apple board member Mickey Drexler stated that Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs had plans to design and build a car and that discussions about the concept surfaced around the time that Tesla Motors debuted its first car in 2008.

Fast-forward to 2020, Apple insider sources officially confirmed that Apple has been working on its flagship car product for years now, and is set to reveal the first look around 2022–2023.

Reports show that the top-secret project is said to be in the works at a hidden lab in Sunnyvale, California named,

“SG5”.

Internally, the project is code-named,

“Titan”.

The code name has been used to describe a number of different elements and technologies, but it falls into two broad categories,

Self-driving vehicle systems and Car design.

Introducing The Apple Car

According to MacRumors, Apple’s vehicle project is focused on building an autonomous driving car. And that hundreds of Apple employees are working on developing a self-driving Apple-branded car aimed at consumers.

Apple Car might be set out to compete with Tesla and other electric vehicle companies and startups. Apple is smart and it knows exactly what products are going to be industry-changing while sticking to its own values and vision.

The company could work with manufacturing partners to produce the vehicles and also reported to be developing a next-level battery technology to extend range and efficiency.

The Cupertino-based has applied a similar system into its,

Apple Card.

To which, Apple partnered with Goldman Sachs to manufacture the credit card, but uses its own propriety technology for the consumer software.

They also seem to be working on their own proprietary LiDAR system. The company has patents on LiDAR, but it isn’t yet clear how far along they are in the process.

On the other side, they can just look for a partner with a powerful LIDAR design and technology.

When it comes to Lidar, Velodyne and Luminar might be the first to show up. However, their Lidar technology doesn't seem to satisfy what Apple is looking for.

Among all the global leaders in lidar technologies, stands out also one company that also has been rumored to be working with Apple’s famed old rival, Microsoft.

The company is called,

Microvision.

A Strategic Partner for Lidar

According to Reuters and iDropNews,

Apple is looking to secure LiDAR units that are “smaller, cheaper and more easily mass-produced” than current solutions.

Among Lidar companies like Velodyne and Luminar Technologies, MicroVision has one of the smallest Lidar units and even the best LIDAR systems available today.

Research has also shown that MicroVision is an independently recognized leader in the development of the intellectual property, which includes several of its Lidar patents.

And just before this year’s Christmas, A new patent was issued to MicroVision that covers “scanning 3D imaging device with power control using multiple wavelengths.”

The patent covers light pulses of at least two different wavelengths reflected off a scanning mirror.

Additionally, the company CEO claims its up-and-coming Lidar technology will be the best option at scale. If what the company CEO says is accurate and right, then Apple would highly consider working with Microvision for their Lidar implementation on their super-hyped Apple car.

However, It’s unclear whether the new patent’s use-case is for consumer automotive or non-automotive and whether Apple might find their technology beneficial.

Apple on Lidar

If Apple starts seeing the sustainable value in partnering with a strong Lidar company, then it would be a strategic move for them to get into an agreement as a partnership.

If a partnership takes place, a long-term value may be stronger than the immediate value offered up by a buyout. Just think about it, Apple is likely to be a major driver in the transformation from traditional cars to Apple-esque cars.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a component in the car Apple creates?

Whether it's Velodyne, Luminar Technologies, or Microvision, a partnership would create a huge increase in demand for the Lidar products these companies have to offer, ultimately creating a significant increase in revenue and an opportunity to reach profitability.

A Tactical Partner for Manufacture

A recent report from a spokesperson for Hyundai confirmed that the car manufacturer is in talks with Apple about a potential Apple Car production deal.

“We understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai Motor,” a company spokesperson said at the time.

“As the discussion is at its early stage, nothing has been decided.”

The two companies plan to produce 100,000 vehicles in 2024, eventually reaching an annual capacity of 400,000.

The report adds that a “beta version” of Apple Car could begin testing as early as next year

Conclusion

Lidar has again seen another rise in the past year given the number of companies working on self-driving cars.

Apple will most likely aim to release a preview of the Apple Car as soon as they can but to make this happen, they will need strategic and sustainable partners.

One to manufacture the car, one to produce a battery technology, and one to design their Lidar system.