Apple is reportedly moving ahead with its plans to produce its own self-driving car. Sources familiar with the matter said that Apple is aiming to release its first passenger vehicle as early as 2024.
The same sources said that Apple is planning to produce its own breakthrough battery technology that would set its vehicle apart from the competition. Apple already established an automotive arm called Project Titan in 2014 but the company has been mum on its progress ever since.
A few years after it established Project Titan, Apple drew back some of its efforts and said that it would focus more on automotive software. In 2018, Apple hired former Tesla employee Doug Field to oversee the project.
Sources - who did not want to identify as Apple's plans are confidential - said that Project Titan is now ready to build its own vehicle for consumers. Unlike the Alphabet's Waymo, which mainly builds robotic taxis for ride-hailing, Apple is aiming to build passenger vehicles for consumers.
Apple is banking on its new battery design, which sources claim would "radically reduce" battery costs and increase range. Apple could also utilize the same lidar sensor technologies it uses on its latest Apple iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro models, the sources said.
As for its battery, sources said that Apple plans to use a unique "mono cell" design that compresses individual cells to free up space. The design eliminates the need for pouches and modules. One of the sources said that the design is "next level" and revolutionary like the "first iPhone."
"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 source that worked on Project Titan said.
It is still not clear if Apple would assemble its planned autonomous driving vehicle or work with a third-party manufacturer to build it. Two people familiar with Apple plans said that the company could push the start of the production because of the pandemic. If the crisis doesn't improve, Apple could push production to 2025 or beyond, sources said.
