In four years, Apple wants to market its own passenger car, which is currently known as ‘Project Titan’. That say sources close to the fire against Reuters. The tech giant’s car project, which was already set up in 2014, remains shrouded in dense fog for the time being.
Nobody really seems to know what Apple’s possible passenger car will look like. Previously, there were rumors that Apple would only work on software for autonomous vehicles, but now the tech company seems to be planning to launch a car itself. ‘Project Titan’ is said to be an EV focused on autonomous driving. According to the sources, Apple is continuing to work on a new battery design for the project, in which the individual cells in the battery are made into one large cell, making use of space more efficiently. Ultimately, this should contribute to a ‘radical reduction in costs’ and a greater action radius.
Apple’s self-driving EV should hit the market in 2024. The sources immediately put a comment on 2024 as the start date for production, because due to the current situation surrounding the corona virus, it may also be that the plans only become reality after 2025. It is also not yet known where Apple will build the car. The Austrian Magna was previously mentioned as a partner, but those conversations seem to have died down. According to one of the sources, Apple must produce at least 100,000 cars per year in order to be able to save money. Apple itself has been silent since the start of the car project in all languages.
Flirt with the auto industry
‘Project Titan’ has been running since 2014 and has been accompanied by many ups and downs over the years. In 2015, they still seemed to be aiming for a market introduction in 2020, but that goal has clearly not been achieved. Nevertheless, Apple is by no means idle. This year, a patent application from the tech company surfaced for ‘smart car windows’ that automatically adjust their transparency to the incidence of light. In 2019, Apple acquired Drive.ai, a start-up developing self-driving cars. Early that year, Doug Field, who had previously worked at Tesla as senior vice president of engineering, joined Project Titan and significantly reduced the workforce of Apple’s auto project. The coming years will show how Apple’s ambitions in the automotive industry will ultimately turn out.