Paris is getting ready to welcome 80 Heads of State in December for the event that makes us sweat: COP 21. Will they be able to agree to prevent the world from sinking into disaster in the near future? The buzzword these days is "the glass half full or half empty". This bodes well for endless debates on the success or failure of this Climate Conference. But perhaps the most decisive decisions for the future of the world will not come from politicians but from the stars of the global economy.
En the margins of COP21 will be held in Paris on 5 December, a day that will be named in perfect French: "A day to celebrate the world's most important event. International Action Day ». Several hundred "people" are expected; they will be welcomed by François Hollande and the Secretary General of the United States, Ban Ki-Moon. Among these stars, we expect Leonardo di Caprio, an actor very committed to the fight against global warming, Al Gore, the former American vice-president, a fierce fighter for the planet, and several dozen major business leaders. Some of the latter will not come empty-handed and will take advantage of the echo chamber of COP21 for resounding announcements. A major Indian bank would come, according to Europe 1In the United States, the President of Bank of America is expected to announce a multi-billion dollar investment in photovoltaics, while the President of Bank of America is expected to pledge a $10 billion green investment check.
Tim Cook
But the one we expect the most is Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, successor to the mythical Steve Jobs. He announces, mysteriously, that he wants to present on the occasion of COP21 " the ecological turn his company wants to take ». So what could it be? One can expect anything with Apple whose accumulated wealth exceeds $200 billion waiting for projects on which to invest. We talked about it recently in UP' Magazine.
So let's assume, then, and start dreaming.
Titan Project
The apple company likes to keep it a secret, it's well known. So, in great secrecy, it hosts in Cupertino, a few steps away from its headquarters in Silicon Valley, a stronghold inaccessible to the common man. Only a thousand hand-picked engineers, duly badged and biometrically screened, are allowed in, among the best specimens on the planet. Their mission? To invent the electric car of tomorrow, the Apple Car.
Rumours, leaks and allegations are rampant. Some things are known and some are imagined. What we know, for example, revealed by the Wall Street JournalThe most significant changes to the company's strategy have been the hiring of one of the best experts in the automotive industry, Doug Betts, who was lured away from Fiat Chrysler, or the recruitment of Johann Jungwirth, former president of Mercedes R&D. What we also know is the name of the project. It would be called "Titan" and would be led by a man who was one of the inventors of the iPod, the current vice-president of product design at Apple, Steve Zadesky. The Financial Times claims that this Zadesky has travelled to Austria several times in recent months to find a partner for the manufacture of the Apple Car.
The magazine Business Insider reports an interview with an employee of the secret project Titan who claimed to be working on " a project that would give Tesla white hair... ». It is also true that Tesla's founder, Elon Musk, is not taking off: for the past few months, his best engineers specialising in electric cars have been lecherous with a golden price by Apple (a $250,000 bonus is given before any discussion...) Same adventure with one of the best manufacturers of batteries for electric vehicles, A123 Systems, which continues Apple in court for employee poaching.
That Apple is interested in the automobile is no longer in doubt. Business Insider reports that the CEO of Fiat Chrysler recently met with Tim Cook, who made no secret of his desire to break into the automobile business. Cook himself maintains the suspense by declaring : " we're working on products no one has any idea about. ». An Apple executive, Jeff Williams, said that " the car is the mobile device par excellence ». There is a great deal of information that agrees, but no official announcement has yet been made.
Acceleration of growth
With the widespread use of the iPhone and iPad, which have made its fortune, it is only natural that Apple is looking for new sectors to revolutionize in order to continue its growth. The electric car is one of them, and the Cupertino firm has the means to make this ambition a reality in order to continue and accelerate its growth.
Just imagine: if Apple brings out an electric car with the same success as the iPhone, we could witness a real revolution. Conventional gasoline-powered cars will look as old-fashioned as our old mobile phones with folding keypads and monochrome screens. We'll be taking a disruptive step. And everyone, by spinoff, will want an Apple electric car. The world will then be a cleaner place, free of one of the main consumers of polluting fossil fuels: the good old daddy's car.
If you want to verify this information with Tim Cook himself, just make an appointment with him for lunch. He offers it, as part of a charitable organizationfor $350,000. Maybe he'll tell you a little something between the pear and the cheese...
To give you a taste, here is the Apple car imagined by designers:
