Apple abandons plans to build an EV

APPLE is cancelling its decade-long effort to build an electric car after executives – including company chief operating officer Jeff Williams and Special Projects Group vice president Kevin Lynch – disclosed to staff that the project will be ‘wound down’.

 

According to a report published by Automotive News, Apple announced the decision to abandon one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the company to the nearly 2000 employees working on the project earlier this week.

 

The two executives told staff that the project will begin winding down and that many employees will be shifted into Apple’s artificial intelligence division – an increasingly key priority for the company – under executive John Giannandrea.

 

Automotive News says the Apple car team also employed “several hundred hardware engineers and car designers” who may be able to apply for jobs in other teams within the company but reports that layoffs are also likely.

 

California-based Apple declined to comment on the report.

 

Apple began work on its electric vehicle in 2014, setting its sights on a self-driving model with voice-guided navigation. The multi-billion-dollar effort would have vaulted the company into an entirely new industry, one that is now to be committed to the annals of history.

 

The project has faced setbacks and challenges from the start, with Apple changing the team’s leadership and strategy several times. Mr Lynch and Mr Williams took over the project from Doug Field several years ago, Mr Field now a senior executive within Ford Motor Company.

 

The news comes just weeks after Apple was reported to be simplifying the design of its electric car, scaling back the capabilities of the model’s self-driving functionality from Level 4 to Level 2 status.

 

At the time, it was suggested the change would further delay the launch of the model to as late as 2028, when the vehicle would arrive with fewer features than originally planned.

 

Developed under the Project Titan codename, the Apple EV has been under development since 2014. No official specifications have been released since the announcement of the project was made.

 

In 2021, it announced that it had recruited former BMW executive and Canoo co-founder Ulrich Kranz to head up the project in what was labelled “a clear sign that the iPhone maker is determined to build a self-driving car to rival Tesla”.

 

The same year (2021), it was reported that Apple had been in talks with battery and component suppliers including Hanwah, Hyundai, LG, and SK Group with some even going so far as to suggest the so-called ‘iCar’ would be built on Hyundai’s e-GMP platform (which underpins the likes of Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6).

 

Several former Tesla engineers, including former senior vice president Doug Field, are also employed in the development of the Apple iCar.

 

Bloomberg reports that Apple has sunk a substantial amount on money and resources into Project Titan, including “hundreds of millions of dollars” on the design alone. In recouping those funds, the model was reportedly expected to cost more than $US100,000 ($A151,120).