The latest report coming from Reuters suggests that Apple is looking forward to introduce its own self-driving car technology in 2024. The report states that the US based tech giant is “targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology.” People familiar with the development told the publication.
Apple’s automotive efforts known as the Project Titan “have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it first started to design its own vehicle from scratch. At one point, Apple drew back the effort to focus on software and reassessed its goals.”
The tech giant now targets to build a vehicle for consumers. With this, Apple probably aims to take on the likes of other market rivals such as Alphabet’s Waymo, among others.
Apple car coming soon?
The report further notes that, “central to Apple’s strategy is a new battery design that could “radically” reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range, according to a third person who has seen Apple’s battery design.”
Notably, the US based tech giant is yet to make the plan official to the public.
It took nearly 17 years for Elon Musk’s Tesla before it became a successful and profitable car manufacturer. The report suggests that Apple should face supply chain challenges as it has never made a car. “If there is one company on the planet that has the resources to do that, it’s probably Apple. But at the same time, it’s not a cellphone,” a person who worked on Project Titan said to the publication.
It is unclear as to who will assemble Apple-branded cars but the report suggests that the company should “rely on a manufacturing partner to build vehicles.” As per the report, another person familiar to the development said, “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.”
The report also states that “Apple’s plans warned pandemic-related delays could push the start of production into 2025 or beyond.”
It is said that Apple’s car could feature multiple lidar sensors for scanning different distances. “Some sensors could be derived from Apple’s internally developed lidar units, that person said. Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro models released this year both feature lidar sensors.” The company also plans to “use a “monocell” design that bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules that hold battery material.”
It is reported that “more active material” could be packed inside of the battery of the Apple car, which will give it a longer range. The report also states that Apple is “examining a chemistry for the battery called LFP, or lithium iron phosphate” which is less likely to overheat and hence is safer than other types of lithium-ion batteries.
The report further notes that the upcoming Apple caris going to be “next level”. “Like the first time you saw the iPhone,” a person familiar with Apple’s battery technology said.
