Apple Cancels EV Plans As Company Moves Focus To Generative AI

The decade-long endeavour ends, perhaps due to the fall in electric car sales across the world

• Apple started its Project Titan back in 2014 to make self-driving electric cars.

• Initially, Apple planned on making Level 4 autonomous electric cars, but was later changed it to Level 2+ EV.

• After shutting down its EV project, Apple will be moving its focus towards generative AI.

• Other tech companies like Google, Sony and Xiaomi have made progress in making self-driving or electric cars.

Project Titan, the internal label for Apple’s electric car, has been scrapped according to sources close to the topic, though the tech giant has made no public announcement for the same. This ambitious Apple project had been in development for around a decade, before getting scrapped by the company for reasons known only to the brand. As per the reports, around 2,000 employees working on the project were told that it will be winding down soon and many of them will be shifted to Apple’s generative AI project. Here is everything we know about the Apple EV program so far.

Project Titan

Back in 2014, Apple set out to make autonomous electric vehicles which would have paved a way for the company to enter the automotive industry. Initially, Apple’s plan was to make a vehicle without a steering wheel and pedals that would use Level 4 driver assistance systems which would be operated via voice commands. 

Apple went through multiple vehicle designs and had started testing its driver assistance system already, but recent reports stated that the brand decided to make the vehicles in the traditional way with manual controls and dropped the driver assistance from Level 4 to Level 2+. Even with those compromises, the best-case launch timeline that was last reported for an Apple EV was set for 2028, which is quite a while away.

Also Read: Exclusive: BYD Seal Variant-wise Features Revealed Ahead Of Launch

However, after a decade of work, Apple has shut down this project and we won’t be seeing an electric car from the brand after all. While Apple has not stated any reason, reports say that it could be due to the decline in EV sales in the global market. 

There are various potential factors that could have dissuaded Apple from putting in any more millions into the EV project. This includes the price premium for EVs over petrol and diesel vehicles and the increasing preference for hybrids, and the challenges in developing autonomous driving tech that could have wide-range applications in order to be a profitable product.

Generative AI

Apple, like many big tech companies, is working on generative artificial intelligence. For the uninitiated, generative AI is a kind of artificial intelligence tool which can generate text, images, audios or even videos with minimal input from the end user. A prime example of this technology is ChatGPT which took the world by surprise with its capabilities.

Also Read: VinFast Moves Closer To India Debut, Begins Construction Of EV Manufacturing Plant In Tamil Nadu

After scrapping its EV project, Apple will be shifting its manpower towards generative AI, which is seeing a lot of development recently. Apple will be developing this technology further for its future product lineups and can also incorporate it into its latest product, the Apple Vision Pro, which uses augmented reality to display digital items into the real world.

Future Of Apple EV

While the tech giant has dropped its plans of making an electric car for now, it may not be the end of Project Titan. Like Apple, other electronics and tech companies have been trying to enter the automotive industry in the EV space in recent years but not with a focus on fully-autonomous capabilities. Companies such as Xiaomi and Sony have developed their own electric cars, the latter working in partnership with Honda. Meanwhile, Google is also making development with its self-driving vehicle project called Waymo using donor vehicles like the Jaguar I-Pace.

Maybe closer to 2030, we’ll see Apple picking up where it left off, and its electric car dream might come true. Would you want to see an electric car made by Apple? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.

Source