Apple's electric car project reportedly delayed until 2021

[Shawn Knight]

Project Titan, the codename of Apple’s long-rumored vehicle project, has slipped from headlines in recent months but a new report from The Information ensures you won’t soon forget about it.

A former Apple employee that claims to have worked on the Titan team tells the publication that Apple was aiming to launch the vehicle by 2020 but the target date has since slipped to 2021.

Project Titan is believed to be an all-electric vehicle that may have autonomous features. Rumors back in April suggested Apple had turned to Magna International after talks with BMW and Daimler fell through. Apparently both automakers wanted control of drivers’ data while Apple insisted on keeping it in its own iCloud system.

9to5Mac also points out that Steve Zadesky, who reportedly was overseeing Titan, left Apple in January due to personal reasons after 16 years on the job.

Nevertheless, recent reports claim Apple could have as many as 600 people working on the project. A couple of months back, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Apple had been asking charging station companies about their underlying technology, presumably to charge its iCar.

As Tesla has demonstrated, a network of recharging stations is key to an electric vehicle’s mainstream success. And speaking of Tesla, CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that the Apple car project was an open secret in the industry and that he welcomes any company’s participation in the electric vehicle industry.

Mockup courtesy CarNow

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[Greg S]

More than likely BMW and Mercedes didn't want their brand names associated with an overpriced vehicle that doesn't have their technology in it. BMW's iDrive is definitely one of the best infotainment systems currently and they know how to handle vehicle dynamics. Mercedes is just good at selling black cars without having people question their pricing.

 

[Nobina]

I only trust German cars.

 

[VitalyT]

If Apple is to ever walk the path of Tesla, they will repeat all their mistakes, making them much worse.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

They had to figure out how to remove the steering wheel, and create a dongle to allow for steering via the pedals.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Tesla is learning that running an "automobile company" like a typical "tech company" is no easy task.

Tesla has - to its credit - revolutionized the automobile with a viable, FAST, attractive vehicle, but the problem is, they are still too expensive, the Germans aren't licensing their technology (nor the American big 3) and PHEV is the best way forward until more charging stations become ubiquitous.

If Every single Gas station and every single mall and every single movie theater and every single shopping center had chargers for EV, range-anxiety would be negated. America's infrastructure is crumbling and most European countries don't have the money to support millions of EV.

The real winners will be Africa, South America and Asia who will be able to hop on the EV band wagon 20 years from now when EV is perfected and cheaper to buy.

 

[wiyosaya]

So the article is basically saying crApple woke up to reality. Gee wiz. Cook must be disappointed his magic wand does not really work.