The Apple electric car, you say, now that the new EV buzzword is out, has Apple switched gears? Project Titan started back in 2014 with anticipation to have a fully autonomous vehicle in the future. Yet, the project’s up and downs have seemed to make this more of a headline story than practical vehicle production. For example, in 2019, Apple laid off more than 200 employees on the project, giving the perception that the project may be dead.
Now the end of 2020 comes to a near, and new announcements surface that Apple is building a fully electric vehicle by 2024. Vehicle production is hard, folks, costly, and takes a lot of moving parts. We cannot imagine success unless there are heavy partnerships with current up and running production facilities.
Our Thoughts On a Possible Apple Car
We are only a mere 4 years out to 2024 and have yet to see a driving concept. If there were any seriousness behind these reports, there would have to be a vehicle to display. All that is out, there are drawings and maybe a clay sculpture.
Also, if the vehicle becomes a reality, we all know you will need a special charger. Don’t anticipate a non-Apple phone to work in the car, and any smart interactive tech will definitely need to be brand specific. Yet, that cannot fly in the car world. Cars will need to be able to communicate across platforms and to critical infrastructure in the future.
Now, we are not Apple haters; they have brought life-changing technology in the past. It would be quite interesting to see an Apple vehicle driving down the road. We figure that they will be able to bring a groundbreaking OS or technology that fits into the brains of vehicles. An entire vehicle may be a long shot and unnecessary. Additionally, security is on Apple product creators’ minds, and we like that at ZEV Society. Security will be so critical to future vehicles; folks should take notes from Apple here.
Project Titan’s Team & Future Development
Apple also has a knack for bringing in top talent. It’s no secret that Project Titan has brought in some of the bigger names of autonomy, AI, machine learning, and vehicle engineering. A list below of current or former employees rumored to be working on the project.
- Jonathan Cohen – NVIDIA Deep Learning VP
- Nancy Sun – VP of Electrical Engineering
- Jamie Carlson – Tesla’s Autopilot
- Megan McClain – VW Engineer
- Paul Furgale – Lab Director of Autonomy for Swiss FITS
- Eyal Cohen – Mission Motors Software VP
- Vinay Palakkode – Carnegie Mellon, Autonomous researcher
- Chris Porritt – Tesla VP
- Anup Vader – Caterpillar Autonomous Engineer
- Xianqiao Tong – NVIDIA Software Developer
- Stefan Weber – Bosch Autonomous Engineer
- Doug Betts – Chrysler Quality Leader
- Lech Szumilas – Delphi Autonomous Engineer
- Mujeeb Ijaz – Ford Engineer
- Johann Jungwirth – Mercedes Research and Development
- Mark Sherwood – Mission Motors Powertrain
- Sanjai Massey – Ford Autonomous Engineer
Overall we are a tad skeptical of the Apple vehicle’s future, but we are very interested to see how Project Titan develops. 2024 is the year of the Apple car, and we will be watching and waiting in anticipation. As more information is revealed on the project, we will update!
