Apple again rumored to be working on an electric vehicle to rival Tesla
Apple is once again rumored to be working on an electric vehicle to rival the likes of Tesla, with reports suggesting production of the Apple-branded self-driving car could begin as soon as 2024.
Reuters reported this week that Apple was putting its foot down on the secret Apple Car program, known as Project Titan, which has been rumored since 2014. Reuters claim Apple has successfully developed a new battery design that would “radically” reduce the cost of the electric car batteries as well as increasing the vehicle’s range, calling the car technology “next level,” and likening it to “the first time you saw the iPhone.”
Apple started poaching Tesla engineers almost five years ago for its automotive project. It is understood that since then, Apple had shifted its focus from building a car to developing autonomous vehicle software, but after various changes in its approach, the company is now said to have its sights back on releasing its own vehicle for consumers.
Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters […] Apple has progressed enough that it now aims to build a vehicle for consumers, two people familiar with the effort said, asking not to be named because Apple’s plans are not public. Apple’s goal of building a personal vehicle for the mass market contrasts with rivals such as Alphabet Inc’s Waymo, which has built robo-taxis to carry passengers for a driverless ride-hailing service.
The report has seen APPL shares to grow however, Reuters claims that “there is still a chance Apple will decide to reduce the scope of its efforts to an autonomous driving system that would be integrated with a car made by a traditional automaker, rather than the iPhone maker selling an Apple-branded car, one of the people added.”
It has previously been suggested that Apple had been looking at an Apple Car design with no physical steering wheel, but very little is known about what the vehicle could look like or offer.
Image: Tesla