Apple EV Car : Apple was developing an electric vehicle (EV) to compete with Tesla and other similar companies, but the Cupertino, California-based tech giant has reportedly abandoned the project, according to Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources “with knowledge of the matter.”
After ten years of development, Apple finally announced to over 2,000 employees that the electric vehicle project has been canceled. The announcement came from Vice President of Technology Kevin Lynch and Apple COO Jeff Williams.
Apple EV Car apparently gives up its EV plans
According to reports, Apple is making artificial intelligence (AI) a top priority. As a result, some members of the EV team—also code-named the “Special Projects Group”—will be moving to the AI division, which is refining the company’s generative AI goals. Not everyone will though, have the same luck. Bloomberg stated, “There will be layoffs, but it’s unclear how many,” implying that engineers in the Special Projects Group would be most vulnerable to being let go.
The Cupertino-based computer giant was testing the car publicly, so even though Apple EV Car (dubbed “Project Titan”) was kept under wraps from consumers, it was the company’s “worst-kept secret,” as the New York Times noted. Autonomous driving, a limousine-style cabin, and voice-activated navigation were all planned features of Project Titan.
5 reasons why apple ended its EV
Apple had been working on Project Titan, a billion-dollar project, since 2014. Bloomberg, however, claims that Apple chose to close it down for five reasons.
RIP @Apple Car pic.twitter.com/6MU0lfljIR
— Mahfuzul Hasan (@MahfuzWeb3) February 28, 2024
1. Apple’s strategy for electric vehicles is a house of cards; it is always shifting and lacks a clear strategy.
2.Leadership has been coming and going. Put another way, there was a high documented turnover rate among those in charge of Project Titan.
3.Apple is concerned that EVs will still be years away from appearing on actual store shelves. According to Bloomberg, the company was shelling out “hundreds of millions of dollars a year” for a vehicle that would most likely never be sold.
4.Self-driving technology is complex and difficult.
5.Apple’s excitement has been tempered by the stagnant EV market caused by limited charging infrastructure.
It had been reported that Apple’s EV would set you back about $100,000. Following the layoffs, those remaining employees of Project Titan will report to Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, John Giannandrea.
But if anyone can bring a sector back to life, it’s Apple. As a virtual reality aficionado, I’ve observed a unique spike in interest in AR/VR with the arrival of Apple Vision Pro (even with the Meta Quest 3’s ability to push boundaries).