After a decade, the plug is pulled on the electric Apple Car،
The multibillion-dollar project, known within Apple as Project Titan, began in 2014 with plans for the vehicle to be fully autonomous, run on electricity, feature voice navigation and has a luxurious interior like a limousine. Apple continued to change the personnel leading the team and found that building a self-driving car was more difficult than it thought. Starting in 2017, Apple road tested several vehicles using the exterior of a Lexus SUV. But there was one problem Apple faced: demand for electric vehicles was declining.
According to Swiss investment bank UBS AG, growth in the electric vehicle market will decline to 11% this year, compared to 47% last year. According to those in the know, Apple executives decided to put an end to the project in recent weeks. About a month ago, Apple reportedly found itself at a tipping point with its electric car project and was planning to delay its release until 2028. Apple was also planning to scale back its car's self-driving capabilities. Instead, the decision was made to terminate Project Titan.
Based on Apple's patent filings, renderings of the Apple Car were created
Today, COO Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, vice president in charge of the project, informed Apple employees working on the car that the project was nearing completion and that some employees working within the Special Projects Group (SPG) developing the automobile would do so. be transferred to the artificial intelligence (AI) division working on generative AI, a major priority for Apple. Others could find positions in other Apple divisions or be laid off.
The fully autonomous vehicle that Apple was working on started life without a steering wheel or pedals. Apple has also explored the possibility of using a remote command center that would act as a pilot. The goal was to build a car that would cost $100,000, but Apple's top executives were concerned that the car wouldn't generate the kind of profit margin Apple would like to see on a project it spent so much money on. .
Apple executives also worried about spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year on a project that might never make it to market.
