No one knows exactly when the machinations started in Cupertino for the beginning of the mystic's conception "Apple Car". Tony Fadell spoke in 2008, for example, but the "D-Day" of the project's genesis is that it really exists, but, well, who we want to deceive totally unknown to all of us, mere mortals.
A report published today in The Guardianhowever, it can give us some clues about the subject. In it, we learn of a passage when Steve Jobs in person he met the prototype of a truly innovative car, very light, small and modern adjectives that, if the whole waterfall of rumors so far is minimally correct, apply perfectly to Ma's upcoming car.
The story takes place in May 2010, when Bryan Thompson, an industrial designer, received an email with only one line: “Steve Jobs”. Thompson, at the time, was leading the development team for the V-Vehicle, an extremely modern gas-powered prototype car with a dedication to low cost (the sale price would be, at most, US $ 14,000) and application of lightweight materials, like polypropylene and fiberglass, which made it 40% lighter than a normal car.
It turned out that Jobs was an “informal adviser” to the project's investors and was curious to know the prototype.
The team, of course, rushed to Jobs' house in Palo Alto to present their creation. Here, a curious addendum: during the initial greetings, Jobs's son appeared, complaining about his iPhone prototype by date, probably what would become the iPhone 4 that had stopped working, to which his father ordered: “go back into the house ”, before looking at the car again.
Two considerations about the above passage: 1) THE SONS OF JOBS USED THE IPHONE PROTYPES. 2) Am I still old enough to be adopted by Laurene?
According to Thompson, in the 15 minutes of the team with Jobs (sitting in the passenger seat), he learned more about plastic than in all of his years at the design school and automotive industry combined. Inside the V-Vehicle, Jobs gave a series of tips on the design and construction of the vehicle.
Jobs told Thompson to think about emphasizing plastic, rather than disguising it. "Let the material be honest," he said, noting the panel, which was made of wood fiber (a mixture of synthetic resin and cellulose). He suggested that the panel would be better designed as a single piece, "evoking a sense of high precision" an idea that Jobs always returned to with Apple's head of design, Jonathan Ive.
Jobs' teachings obviously resonated with the outside of the V-Vehicle team. Thompson, for example, spent the entire trip home drawing ideas based on that quarter-hour meeting.
The V-Vehicle project ended up not seeing the light of day for lack of investment and long-term plans for mass production, and eventually Thompson's designs and research were purchased by a company that promises a new plan to produce the car now called Next Autoworks in Italy.
On the other hand, Jobs' ideas seem to have found their way in the new automotive design, the BMW i3, widely talked about as one of the main bases of the “Apple Car”, was the first car to expose wood fiber inside, and the Tesla is already using super-lightweight materials in his Model 3. All of this serves to further highlight Jobs's remarkable mind, but it also points us to a possible direction in which Ma would be heading with her car project, and where it all came from. this with engines. Whether true or not, however, we will still wait a few years before finding out.
(via Cult of Mac)
