Although we have been talking about it for years and there are few details on the latest progress, Apple has not given up on its project to develop an electric car and has recently relaunched the initiative internally.
According to Bloomberg, the company is focusing its research on autonomous driving to overcome the difficulties encountered so far by most automotive companies in designing next-generation vehicles that drive themselves, without the need for direct intervention by their passengers.
To date, Apple is present on cars only with CarPlay, the multimedia system for connecting iPhones to on-board systems and using some of the applications, such as those for online maps or to listen to music. The system is available on numerous models manufactured by different car companies, but it has nothing to do with driving vehicles or controlling any of their other features.
For several years, Apple executives had been wondering what the best plan was to develop a new car: make it partially autonomous, as are many models already on sale today, or work for a fully automatic version that never requires intervention. human, except in special circumstances. The first option was easier to implement, but in the end the opinion prevailed that it offered fewer commercial opportunities, especially in terms of competition, and the company had focused on the second.
The task of turning the plan into reality was entrusted to Kevin Lynch, responsible for recent developments related to the Apple Watch, one of the most successful products of the company in recent years. Lynch has no experience in the auto industry, but he is considered a very capable and versatile executive, suitable for tidying up the Apple division that is dealing with automobiles, where in recent years there have been numerous notable hires, but also resignations. of prominent executives.
The division, called “Project Titan,” has existed since 2014 and for the past three years had been headed by Doug Field, a former Tesla manager who left his job in September to go to work for Ford. Lynch was cast as his replacement, an appointment that was seen as Apple's choice to rely on its own internal resource even if inexperienced in the automotive industry.
In the first weeks of work, Lynch confirmed that he wanted to develop a fully autonomous vehicle, sources consulted by Bloomberg always say. Times are tight and considered difficult to achieve by analysts: the deadline was set for 2025, a couple of years ahead of what had previously been predicted by Apple. In the event of delays, the company may decide to announce a first version of the new system, pending the development of a more elaborate one.
Apple would like to make an electric car without a steering wheel and pedals, with interiors similar to those that Canoo, a US startup working on some electric vehicles, is planning.
A screen in the center of the car, similar to a large iPad and surrounded by seats, could be used by passengers to consult the car's route and for on-board entertainment during the journey. The interior design may also change depending on the regulations for self-driving cars in different countries, if they include emergency systems to take control of the vehicle.
Focusing on autonomous driving, in the last period Apple has however concentrated on the development of the processor that will manage the artificial intelligence systems to operate the car. The company believes it has completed much of the work on the microchip and software to make it work. After all, Apple has been developing and manufacturing various types of processors for its iPhones, iPads and Macs for some time now.
The new processor will be tested on the road starting from the next few months, mounted in this first phase on vehicles built by other manufacturers that Apple has already used in recent years to do some tests. The company has mostly used some SUVs made by Lexus on the roads of California, where it is headquartered.
However, building an entire car is not easy, even if the electric models are less complicated from a mechanical point of view than traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines. Apple has no industry experience and will therefore need to find partner companies with which to advance vehicle development. In recent years, the company has established contacts with the main car manufacturers in the United States, with whom it already collaborates for CarPlay and other projects.
Beyond Lynch's appointment, Apple has maintained a rather aggressive approach in finding new executives and personnel for its Project Titan. The company hired CJ Moore, until recently head of software development for autonomous driving at Tesla, Elon Musk's electric car company that has invested heavily in the industry. Other hires included engineers and executives from automotive companies such as Volvo, Daimler, General Motors and from companies that design batteries and electric motors.
It is currently unclear which business model Apple will follow and the internal confrontation is still ongoing. One possibility could be to use their electric cars as part of a robot-taxi service, as Uber and Waymo, the subsidiary of Alphabet, have been trying for some time. Another possibility is that Apple's cars are normally sold by dealers to individual customers.
These and other decisions will rest with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Lynch, the fifth executive chosen to manage the automobile project for the past seven years. He is credited with much of the responsibility for the success of the Apple Watch, another project that had had various troubled moments during the development phase. Project Titan has had numerous problems over the years, with second thoughts and hypotheses of a total abandonment of the project circulating in 2017. As per tradition, Apple has not commented on the latest news or confirmed its plans in the auto sector.
