11:45 am, February 28, 2024
Apple has reportedly abandoned its plans to build a self-driving electric car after more than a decade of secret work.
The tech giant has long been rumoured to be developing it’s own EV as part of a secretive project overseen by Kevin Lynch, who previously managed software operations for the Apple Watch.
The work – codenamed Project Titan – has hit multiple snags over the years as technological restraints continued to dog the scheme.
Now, multiple news outlets are reporting that the California-based firm has finally decided to cut its losses and walk away from the project all together.
The BBC reports that Apple was still ‘years away’ from actually making the vehicle, having already spent billions of dollars on research and development.
Bosses at Apple have never officially confirmed the that they were working on an electric car but sources close to the firm say staff who were working in the division will now move to the outfit’s AI division.
Ray Wang, founder and chief executive of Silicon Valley-based consultancy Constellation Research told the BBC: ‘This is a smart and long awaited decision.
‘The market demand for EVs is not there and AI is where all the action is.’
Initially Apple was said to be hellbent on designing a fully autonomous EV which would have had no steering wheel or pedals.
However, execs were later forced to scale back their ambitions and set about coming up with a simpler design that would include more traditional features.
A source close to the project claimed in December 2022 that the rethought vehicle would only support full autonomous capability on highways.
Apple has not commented on the latest reports.
