The Apple Car shapes up as pricey Tesla assembled by Kia

If we rewind a few years back, Tesla’s first foray into electric cars was the Roadster, positioned in the expensive supercar niche whose clients are used to shelling upwards of a hundred grand for a hamster wheel of a car that can go from zero to hero in no time flat.

Fast forward a decade or so, and Tesla’s strategy proved somewhat successful on Main Street, as green credit sales keep its bookkeeping and production plans afloat, and wildly successful on Wall Street, especially for its proponent Elon Musk and his stock options.

Apple to price its first electric car like Tesla

So far so good but the report claims that Apple will position its car as a “very high-end model,” all the while it would be making “good use of existing car factory resources and focus on automatic driving software and hardware, semiconductors, battery-related technology, appearance, and interior space design, innovative user experience, and integration of the existing Apple ecosystem.” No wonder Hyundai reportedly had reservations about working with Apple as a mere contract manufacturer as it could be squeezed on costs, while the margins for Apple would be high.

Apple Car specs and release date

Hyundai’s e-GMP platform, however, is obviously deemed superior than Foxconn’s MIH one by Apple, hence the company that makes its iPhones won’t be making its cars, too. Hyundai, on the other hand, may have deduced that the high Apple Car street price would actually lead to higher prices for its component and assembly services than it can get elsewhere or going it alone, especially while Apple is getting its foot in the electric door. 

A win for Hyundai is a win for Apple, too, as it will shrink its time-to-market range significantly, compared to building its own supply chain from scratch, so it might have had to negotiate in better faith on the adoption of the e-GMP platform.