[NewsPoster]

Apple was at one point considering buying electric auto maker Tesla, a report from the San Francisco Chronicle suggests. The paper cites a source who says that in April of 2013, Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with Apple's head of acquisitions -- Adrian Perica -- at the company's Cupertino headquarters. It's speculated that he might also have met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, a strong possibility given Musk's importance, especially if the two companies were exploring a buyout.

An alternative is that Apple was simply investigating a deal to integrate iOS support into Tesla vehicles, although the direct involvement of Musk and Perica may cast doubt on that idea. Tesla's cars use oversized touchscreens in place of normal dash controls, which might make them both a natural target and a challenge for iOS in the Car support. It's unknown if the two companies have forged any sort of deal.

Elsewhere in the report, the Chronicle says that with the help of THX creator Tomlinson Holman -- who joined Apple in 2011 -- the company has been exploring ways of predicting heart attacks through noise "turbulence" in blood flow. Blood flowing through congested arteries makes a different sound, and Apple is said to be interested in developing sensors and software that can pick this up. The technology would presumably be integrated into the iWatch, which is expected to monitor a range of health and fitness statistics.

[iphonerulez]

I sure wish Apple had jumped on that deal. Tesla vehicles are really awesome. I would think that would have been a match made in heaven.

[xomniron]

Year over year, Tesla Motors, Inc. has seen their bottom line shrink from a loss of $254.4M USD to an even larger loss of $396.2M USD despite an increase in revenues from $204.2M USD to $413.3M USD. An increase in the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 69.84% to 92.72% was a key component in the falling bottom line in the face of rising revenues. (see http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=TSLA)


If anyone could have made Tesla profitable, Apple would've been the one to give it a good effort. But, as creative as Apple is, I think the company would've burned through a significant amount of cash reserves trying to put Tesla on stable footing in a very small, although slowly growing market. The economics of owning a high-end electric car like Tesla are still questionable at present. Without Federal money on startup and tax incentives for buyers, the numbers look dismal. If Tesla was forced to compete on a level playing field with other automobile manufacturers, especially in the high-end price points, it wouldn't survive.


I think Apple was smart to pass on this.

[coffeetime]

Tesla are the coolest looking electric vehicles out there in this planet comparing to the rest which are just b-u-t-t ugly. Why can't all other electric / hybrid cars looking a bit more attractive? They are so geeky looking. Tesla rules. Love their 17" touch pad dashboard.... it's so very next generation.

[DiabloConQueso]

Other electric/hybrid cars don't cost $70,000 to $100,000 or more. It's a luxury/sport car. The Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius are not luxury cars nor sports cars.

It's for the same reason a Ford Fiesta doesn't look anything remotely like a Jaguar.