Raphael ThysThe warp car was an April Fools prank
A couple of years ago OnePlus had an April fool's prank which suggested that it was going to make a car called the warp car. Well, that was a prank but now there is a patent filing for "OnePlus Life" which suggested that it is working on a whole suite of EVs, self-driving cars, and also electric scooters. In fact, its sister brand Realme had also done such a filing. As per the latest filing - OnePlus is working on driverless cars, self-balancing scooters, self-balancing boards, remote control vehicles, and even self-balancing electric unicycles and civilian drones. Back in 2019 with the Warp car joke, OnePlus joked that its car could be operated with its OnePlus 6T smartphone and didn't have a steering wheel.
OnePlus Life is the filing for its EVs and autonomous cars
Now, this could be a more serious filing that would point towards a family of mobility products. OnePlus wouldn't be the first smartphone brand to enter this space. Sony has been dabbling with the Vision S concept since 2019 which is a showcase of all technologies it has across the group. Xiaomi promises that its first EV will come out by 2024 and Apple has been working on a self-driving autonomous car since 2014.
For tech companies, as smartphone penetration slows down - electric cars are the next big things as they are similar to the gadgets with battery and semiconductors at their heart fuelled by smart software. These companies can outgun the traditional automotive giants which is why almost every major tech company is trying to get a foothold in the market before the auto players get a stranglehold of the segment.
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