Apple is reportedly planning to launch its first passenger car in 2024, using its own battery technology to "radically" reduce the price of EV batteries.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Amerian technology giant has renewed its automotive efforts, known internally as Project Titan, which have been in development since at least 2014.
The vehicle will incorporate self-driving technology, and use a unique "monocell" battery which uses larger cells, allowing for denser battery packs that may deliver greater range than traditional multi-cell designs used by current electric cars.
The company is reportedly experimenting with lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry as an alternative to lithium-ion, as it is less likely to overheat.
Certain components, such as the LIDAR arrays used for self-driving functionality, will reportedly be sourced from outside partners, despite Apple designing its own LIDAR sensors for the most recent iPhone and iPad Pro models.
As with Apple's consumer electronics line-up, production of the Apple car is expected be outsourced to a manufacturing partner. 2024 is the current target, though sources within Apple told Reuters that production may be pushed back to 2025 due to pandemic-related delays.
The project is headed by Doug Field, a former Apple hardware engineer who was rehired from an engineering role at Tesla in 2018. Around 200 staff were made redundant from the team in 2019, as the company refocused its efforts on software.
Producing a passenger car would be an about-face for Apple, having previously confirmed it had ditched its plan to build an autonomous car in 2017. Speaking to Bloomberg at the time, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that the technology giant was now completely focused on developing an autonomous system - something he said was "a core technology that we view as very important".
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Looking forward to an overpriced, over hyped bland shoebox driven by over excited elitists.
. Let's be realistic here, most new drivers under thirty aren't particularly interested in what the car looks like exteriorise, there more interested in the tech inside because it'll be familiar especially if the have an Apple product already.
I completely disagree, my 19 and 22 year old kids? And their mates, do care what a car looks like and whilst interested in tech, as long as they can play their Spotify playlist then they're happy, so all the tech isn't the be all and end all, my son bought a 2017 civic because he loves the styling, his mate bought an nc mx5, my daughter is still happy with the 04 fiesta I bought her as she has a parrot kit that enables her Spotify playlist, I also have plenty of under 30 colleagues who are similarly interested in the styling of their respective cars. So whilst they may not all be enthusiasts that read car mags, they do enjoy their cars.
How's the culture war working out for you?
Never thought about, not even sure what you are on about. Still at least you not rabbiting on about brexit as usual.
Are you? It looks more like you're being really cynical about it. To continue your clever alalagy with handsets, I wonder what the phone you typed that on would have looked, felt and performed like without the iPhone? Probably not as good as your Samsung/Google/Sony/whatever I'm guessing.
I dearly hope that Apple can transform and stimulate the electric car development process as effectively as they did the mobile. I don't care if it's any good/overpriced/overhyped if it makes others better. That way we all benefit.
You guessed wrong, maybe you are the one trying to be to clever. Ok apple is brilliant, happy now.
I guess I'm an excited elitist then, I'll be ordering one ASAP, Typed on my iPhone 12 Pro 512Gb whilst wearing my Air Pods Max synced to my HomePods as my Mac Pro sits in the corner on it's £400 wheels. You enjoy your Dacia Sandero and 4 year old Android phone, nothing wrong with those, all good products too, and if you don't have a Dacia Sandero, cheapest new car, then you must also be an elitist?