Featured And then there were 6

Audi is the 6th car maker to say they will make a 200+ mile bev by the end of 2018
310 Mile Audi e-tron Quattro Concept Revealed, Production in 2018 (w/videos)
Pretty cool 0.25 drag coeficient for an SUV, but of course it will be higher in the US because of regulations.

Maybe we should count it as only 5 as Porsche is part of vw group like Audi, and they may be sharing batteries, but porshe has a fater charging car concept
Porsche Mission E Revealed: 500 km/310 Mile Range, 60 In 3.5 Seconds, 15 Minute Charges

Ford, Chevy, and Nissan have already made their announcements, and Tesla is currently selling one.

 

That would make sense but texas is firmly in the plug-in camp, although cng and lng trucks are part of the states priorities, Austin is the only city with hydrogen, and that is part of university research and government education, not commercialization. Still if there are breakthroughs texas will support fcv like plug-ins.

vw group and bmw are on record as wanting to build plug-ins. Tesla has gone directly after bmw and porsche's target market and has made money selling bevs. Both VW group (lamborgini, porsche, audi, vw) and bmw think that most of their plug-ins will be phevs not bevs, they realize that 10 years down the road when bevs may be cheaper to make, and need to get experience now.
Audi: 40% Of Luxury Cars Will Be EVs By 2030 - Gas 2

The reason is the cafe and european co2 requirements simply won't allow luxury cars to stick with V8s. If they want to keep selling the performance they need a battery boost to meet emissions. Most of the bet is on the PHEV side, and bmw's i8 may out sportscar the gas only 911. Porsche is going to try both bevs and phevs to retain its profit margin. Audi has a lot more time, but when investing for a battery for porsche, why not use it in a higher volume audi to help cover R&D.

 

Probably not, they do have to give up on the big displacement bump. Here we have the most efficient true sports car the 911 versus the phev i8, and the fatest tesla against the best fuel economy sports sedan.
Compare Side-by-Side
The bmw phev and tesla bev easily comply with the future regulations, while the 911 and lexus GSh will have to pay fines. Note the tesla and bmw are more expensive today, but battery prices and light weight materials are falling in price. In a decade lexua may be able to get away without fines because of ct and es, but the upper end very profitable LS and GS look like dinasaurs. The thing that can save the LS and GS is low gas prices, otherwise regulations will make them more expensive than plug-ins in a decade.

 

Probably Apples best shot at that would be to buy ford. Odds are stacked heavily against apple even trying to do a car on their own. Its likely technology that they hope to sell to car companies.

 

All I have heard is rumors most of them shot down. Apple Car based on BMW i3? ‘Nice idea’: CEO
Tim Cook talks Steve Jobs, personal life, Apple Car, & more on ‘Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert [Video] | 9to5Mac
As a shareholder I would expect a proxy item if apple was going into the car business versus doing something like carplay, or google self driving but with modified i3's.

Hey if you know anything real tell us. Yes, Ford would probably be the cheap way for apple to enter. The market cap - $56B is fairly easy for apple to do, and if they change the multiple from 8 to 12 that is a 50% gain. Building a car company is slow work, and given the size of apple, it won't get a tesla like multiple for that business. But yes if they have a killer car, and its not built by foxconn in china it would be cool news.

But to me it seems unlike that project titan is about apple challenging Toyota in the car business. Who knows? If I get a proxy item on a shareholder volt requesting something for project titan I'll let you know.

 

Anounced in march with not much detail.
Ford Will Unveil Chevrolet Bolt Competitor This Year
It is vague enough that maybe it won't happen, but ....
Ford already has used compact power (LG) batteries in the focus EV, and that is the gm vendor that seems to have gotten battery prices down enough to make the bolt next year or maybe the year after.

But for used to love cars this automobile article talks about potential apple car. To me the most likely apple branded car will be a partnership, and this month that seems like with bmw, perhaps sold at bmw i dealerships.

 

back on track, why are all these car makers planning a 200+ mile bev. There is a market for it.
One Million Global Plug-In Sales Milestone Reached - HybridCars.com

Which makes you ask when will 1 M/year happen in the US? It may come just as the 54 mpg cafe standard hits in 2025.
Electric Cars Will Take 10 Years To Hit 1 Million Annual Sales: Analysis

I think china will be a bigger market than the US by then, but these are the two big plug-in markets -US and China. They are also the most profitable markets for foreign automakers