Apple has released an exclusive on its plans to get Project Titan back on track. The most valuable company in the world wants to take a piece of the pie in the electronic vehicle industry.
Project Titan has been under development since 2014. However, the project was left hanging when Apple prioritized software. With Doug Field returning to Apple after working at Tesla for five years, the Apple veteran was positioned to oversee Project Titan since 2018. He’s even notably laid off over 190 people from the autonomous vehicle project in 2019. That being said, it looks like Apple’s automobile project has had significant progress. With Apple having its fair share of leaks lately, one even pointing to the upcoming iPhone 13 with improved battery life, a car is fresh news. According to two individuals who are familiar with the program, Project Titan finally aims to build a vehicle for consumers within the next decade.
From what has been leaked so far, Apple wants to use a monocell battery design to give its cars more range. The monocell design provides the car with much more room to hold additional cells, since it eliminates modules that are present in other battery designs. With that being said, it’s unclear as to how Apple plans to proceed with manufacturing its vehicle. According to the two unnamed sources, Apple might partner up with a manufacturer to build their vehicles. One thing’s for sure, with Apple’s Mac promising a possible 32-core processor, Apple enthusiasts will have another innovation to look forward to.
While this is in much anticipation, the project is expected to come into fruition around 2024, perhaps even into 2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The iPhone company is not coming into this leisurely, even with the ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. Apple has developed Lidar sensors extensively, which are key components in autonomous driving. As said by the two sources, “It’s the next level, like the first time you saw the iPhone.”
Of course, cars and automobiles are a different venture altogether, in a completely separate industry from mobile phones. Not only are vehicles a tremendous investment, but an annual production of 100,000 cars would have to be in order for a proper assembly plant. While Tesla might feel threatened from an Apple car, some think it would be a better move for Apple to partner with an already existing manufacturer. They can learn this lesson from Tesla, who is still taking years to make a global manufacturing network.
Although cars are indeed hard to make, there’s more than enough talent at Apple to pull this off.
Source: Reuters