A key aspect of Apple Car has already been defined, and we know it would be built on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform after the recent developments.
Apple’s car project seems to have come back stronger than ever. It all started (again) a few days before Christmas, with a Reuters report that we already told you about at the time, which indicated that its arrival on the market could occur in 2024. A moment that Elon Musk took advantage of to recall that those from Cupertino could have bought Tesla in 2017, but showed no interest in doing so.
Apple’s car would be built on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform
Given that we are talking about a project that will still take years to materialize, we did not expect more rumors and leaks about it, so it was a surprise to learn, a few days later, that the Apple Car could be the result of a collaboration with Hyundai Motors. And even more, that the presentation of it could take place as soon as March of this year, while the first working prototype would see the light sometime next year. I admit that I find it strange that Apple announces something more than a year before being able to show it, even as a prototype, but we are talking about the motor industry, a sector in which times are very different from those of the technology sector.
Since this collaboration was made “public”, some voices pointed out that Hyundai and some of its managers are not quite clear about the operation, and that they fear that Apple intends that its functions in it will be limited to being the manufacturer that executes the Apple Car designs carried out in Cupertino. An understandable concern, given the control Apple likes to have overall its projects.
However, and as we can read in Gizmodo, for the moment the project seems to be moving forward and, in addition, a key aspect of it has already been defined, and that is that the Apple Car would be built on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. In case you don’t know it, you should know that it was presented a few months ago and that it represents an important and very interesting bet of Hyundai for electric vehicles, since it has been designed exclusively for them, instead of being the adaptation of a platform for vehicles with a combustion engine, and will be used in the next version of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, as well as a Kia that will soon reach the market.
Hyundai’s new platform has one factor that is key to the Apple Car or, to be more precise, to Apple, and that is that its design is quite modular, which in other words means that it could adapt quite well to whatever they are coming up within Cupertino. This, no doubt, could bridge a stumbling block in the relationship between the two companies, and allow Apple to take advantage of all of Hyundai’s expertise, rather than having to learn many aspects of the motor industry from scratch.
As for what E-GMP has to offer the Apple Car, according to Hyundai it is capable of providing acceleration from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in just 3.5 seconds and could reach a speed of over 255 kilometers per hour. Obviously, these performances will change depending on the vehicle that is developed on it, but as a starting point, it seems, without a doubt, an excellent option.
However, this new leak poses a “delay” with respect to what the previous ones indicated, and according to this information, the Apple Car will not see the light of day, that is, it will not reach the market until 2025, although in this case, we are talking about a prediction, not a leak. It makes sense, and could even be delayed further, until 2026 or 2027. And if the design of each new version of the iPhone can take Apple between 18 and 24 months, and it is an area it knows very well, entering into such a complex and unknown sector for the brand will undoubtedly take much longer.
Apple also hires Manfred Harrer, head of the chassis at Porsche, for its alleged car
Apple continues to make moves for its alleged behind-the-scenes car while we continue to be entertained with rumors of iPad, iPhone, and their accessories. The company has hired Manfred Harrer, who until now worked at Porsche with the position of vice president of chassis.
Business Insider is the one who has given the news, reflected by several media such as 9to5Mac and MacRumors. Harrer has been working on the development of the chassis of the Cayenne range of the legendary Porsche brand and is considered one of the most seasoned experts in his field. A “hidden champion,” as one Volkswagen Group executive described him.
Taking positions to advance the project
At the moment Harrer is still officially working for the Volkswagen Group, but after a waiting period under contract, he will join the ranks of Apple. In the past, this engineer has also worked for car brands such as BMW and Audi. Neither Apple nor Harrer has declined to comment on the matter.
There has been a lot of movement around the ‘Apple Car’ lately. Dan Riccio taking on a new position, these hires, all the talk with Hyundai… it sounds like Cupertino is reorganizing to be able to work more thoroughly with a product that seems to have found a focus. The result will be a long time coming, probably until 2024.
