Engineering the first iPhone is a completely different kind of challenge to engineering an EV - probably a lot easier in most ways that matter.
For the iPhone, it was a relatively fresh niche, so the minimum quality bar was very low (and considering how much better smartphones have gotten, you could argue that early models intentionally left a lot of room to improve). EV cars need to compete not only with "normal" cars, but also with generations of tesla's, and a wide variety of hybrids, including plug-ins that can to some extent provide the same benefits. A new entry needs to be much more competitive.
Then, the ingredients to a smartphone are fairly simple, and it doesn't actually matter that much exactly what you do with them. Anything vaguely affordable with a touchscreen and internet essentially works - and without much competition that means there would have been many paths to success. By contrast, there are quite a few physical limits cars run up against that make the details a lot more relevant (perhaps not if you'd have been developing the first car, but well...)
Cars have lots of regulatory issues and there is extensive safety testing. Even if this were trivial, it's likely still time consuming and may involve many iterations.
For the iPhone, it was a relatively fresh niche, so the minimum quality bar was very low (and considering how much better smartphones have gotten, you could argue that early models intentionally left a lot of room to improve). EV cars need to compete not only with "normal" cars, but also with generations of tesla's, and a wide variety of hybrids, including plug-ins that can to some extent provide the same benefits. A new entry needs to be much more competitive.
Then, the ingredients to a smartphone are fairly simple, and it doesn't actually matter that much exactly what you do with them. Anything vaguely affordable with a touchscreen and internet essentially works - and without much competition that means there would have been many paths to success. By contrast, there are quite a few physical limits cars run up against that make the details a lot more relevant (perhaps not if you'd have been developing the first car, but well...)
Cars have lots of regulatory issues and there is extensive safety testing. Even if this were trivial, it's likely still time consuming and may involve many iterations.
Totally different beasts.