The downfall of Apple's autonomous car project

[Shawn Knight]

Project Titan, the internal codename for Apple’s autonomous vehicle project, was one of the most intriguing topics in technology for a spell. Apple set to work in 2014 with a grand vision of upending the automotive industry, much like it did to the music industry with the iPod and the wireless industry with the iPhone, but as it turned out, history was destined to repeat itself in a less favorable manner.

As highlighted in a recent piece from The New York Times, Apple initially wanted to build a single electric driverless car with a high-end interior reminiscent of a living room or lounge. The Cupertino-based company recruited a massive team of specialists from all walks of life who entertained multiple, unconventional concepts.

Members of the car project quickly discovered that designing and building even fundamental parts of a vehicle were challenging. Apple promptly shifted plans and sought out a manufacturing partner to build its vehicle. Before long, Apple was reportedly asking potential partners to provide common components of a vehicle like the chassis and wheels.

At some point, the conversation shifted entirely to Apple asking potential partners to simply retrofit their existing vehicles with Apple’s sensors and software.

Apple’s top manufacturing partner was BMW, sources say, given its focus on high-end yet mainstream products. Negotiations with the German automaker continued for years but the deal now appears to be dead because neither Apple nor BMW wanted to relinquish control of the customer experience and relationship to the other.

Apple also reportedly negotiated with Mercedes-Benz for more than a year but again, those talks stalled over disputes about who would control the experience and data.

If true, it wouldn’t be the first time that Apple’s tough negotiating tactics kept the company from closing a deal to expand into new areas.

Sources claim Apple also met with Nissan, BYD Auto and even supercar maker McLaren but nothing ever materialized. Apple did eventually find a partner late last year in Volkswagen, a company coming off a major scandal who reportedly “jumped at the chance” to work with Apple. The two are said to be working together to redesign Volkswagen’s T6 van as an electric, self-driving shuttle for Apple employees.

People familiar with the project say Apple will retain the T6’s frame, wheels and chassis but is replacing other components like the dashboard and seats. Apple is also adding various computers and sensors for autonomous driving purposes and of course, a large battery pack.

The shuttles, at least initially, will have a safety driver behind the wheel to take control if necessary as well as an operator in the passenger seat to monitor the van’s performance. The project was expected to be complete by the end of 2018 although one source told the paper the deadline won’t be met.

No word yet on whether or not Apple’s partnership with Volkswagen will extend beyond the shuttle project. Either way, it’s far from the original vision many had for an Apple car and certainly not what Apple initially set out to accomplish.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74788-downfall-apple-autonomous-car-project.html

 

[kapital98]

The picture of that van is maybe the most damning thing in this article.

Good reporting and synopsis of this ordeal. It's understandable why Apple wants control over the end user. It's also understandable why companies with clout have kindly told them to go jump off a cliff.

I guess the only thing I'll give Apple credit for is being willing to quickly change their strategy based on bad ideas. Though this is kind of giving them a pass for an egregious example of the tech sector thinking they can just put a bunch of smart people in a room and completely change industries they know nothing about.

 

[Uncle Al]

Ditto

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

People give Apple too much credit - they did create the iPod, but they were only able to do it because Toshiba had designed and built a tiny spinning harddrive that could hold a GB of music. Flash memory at the time was in the 32 to 64 MB range. The genius of it was in the software and design, but without the storage the whole thing would never have happened. Siri? That wasn't Apple's product - they bought a company called Nuance. Apple's model of buy the pieces, design the product, write the software and pay someone to assemble it all works great for small electronic devices.

But cars are not iPods - you can't go to foxconn and give them 50 parts and tell them to put them together for a car. You need a real-live car manufacturer with an established factory and process. Tesla tried it on their own, and look how well that's going - no profit and missing every deadline in sight.

It's a bummer Apple couldn't just go to the suppliers and order parts like they did with the iPod and iPhone - but a car is a different beast. Car makers have decades of expertise that can't be replicated by a software company that's new to the business.

Bummer they couldn't work it out... I guess we'll have to settle for Apple Car Play.

 

[mbrowne5061]

It's a bummer Apple couldn't just go to the suppliers and order parts like they did with the iPod and iPhone - but a car is a different beast. Car makers have decades of expertise that can't be replicated by a software company that's new to the business...

They should have just bought a car maker. Buy one of the American car manufacturers, have them design a single "Apple Car", market it as such, slowly replace the original car company's models with Apple models, then quietly kill the brand. It would have taken time and money, but it would have worked.