I am unable to see why Apple should've or should make a car, what could they have done differently or better that wouldn't have just been an imitation with a slight improvement of what already exists.
Do they made their own engines or buy them, do they design and make their own car or have someone else do that for them. So what are they left with, a revolutionary interior? Full self driving? (I don't think so). Or is it just another Tesla, BYD or Xiaomi but has its own iterated benefits or technological improvements like the others.
Would they invest in their own battery technology? They don't with their iPhones, perhaps they invest in more efficient motors? motors aren't a current problem. So then it just sounds like an electric car with a more integrated CarPlay. Big deal.
Tesla, BYD, KIA EV9, Polestar, their user interfaces are already fantastic.
It's whether Apple could make a material improvement on what is already out there for top EV cars.
By contrast, I'm constantly disappointed in how bad CarPlay is. So many things are obviously broken. It's hard to understand why it's stuck in this condition (by contrast with tiny tweaks from one release to the other, Apple fashion.)