Electric Cars? Apple? "Nope."

[George K]

https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/27/apple-cancels-apple-car-project-moves-team-to-generative-ai-projects/

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Bloomberg reports that Apple has officially canceled its effort to build an electric car. The move was announced internally by Apple COO Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, who had been leading the Apple Car project since 2021.

“Apple’s most senior executives finalized the decision in recent weeks,” the report says. The project had reached a “make-or-break point” inside Apple, with Tim Cook also facing pressure from shareholders to make a decision.
According to the story, there are over 2,000 people working on the Apple Car – or Project Titan – team. As part of this decision to shutter the project, some employees will move to Apple’s AI team led by John Giannandrea.

But that offer won’t be extended to everyone working on the Apple Car project. Some employees might be able to “apply for jobs on other Apple teams,” but there “will be layoffs,” Bloomberg says. It’s not explicitly clear how many lay-offs will happen.

Apple made the disclosure internally Tuesday, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees working on the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the announcement wasn’t public. The decision was shared by Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, a vice president in charge of the effort, according to the people.

Apple has been working on an electric car of some sort since 2014. The project has ebbed and flowed quite a bit over the years. Most recently, it was reported that Apple was targeting a 2028 release date for its electric car with a price at around $100,000. The company’s initial goal was to ship a car that was fully autonomous, without steering wheels or pedals. Those ambitions, were dramatically scaled back in recent years.

[George K]

Gotta wonder what prompted the decision to abandon it. Software issues? Outsourcing construction? Other problems with EVs?

[Horace]

I wonder if any technical hurdles were underestimated.

[Mik]

I think the slowdown in adoption might factor in. That and possibly a suspicion that the technology might change more quickly than they could retool.

I think I’m going to rent an electric next month in Texas.

[George K]

@Horace said in Electric Cars? Apple? "Nope.":

I wonder if any technical hurdles were underestimated.

Indeed. They've been working on "Project Titan" for a decade. Multiple shifts in project managers, etc.

It's a huge thing, and I don't think they understood how big it is.

Remember when cars used to introduce a new model every 3 years or so? Not any more. Retooling, etc...just too big a project.

[Doctor Phibes]

Not really surprising that it failed, given that it’s very challenging and also completely outside the core skills of the business.

[Copper]

If they thought they could have made good money, they probably would have.

To other EV makers, I advise caution.

[89th]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Electric Cars? Apple? "Nope.":

Not really surprising that it failed, given that it’s very challenging and also completely outside the core skills of the business.

Good summary. Moving from the phone to the watch was a “leap” at one time. Car? Very different in so many ways…. so so many ways.

For transportation I could see them getting more into evtols (aka electric drone helicopters for short travel), or maybe getting into the healthcare software/hardware business. But cars? Cool idea but musk beat them to the punch years ago.

[Renauda]

@George-K said in Electric Cars? Apple? "Nope.":

Gotta wonder what prompted the decision to abandon it. Software issues? Outsourcing construction? Other problems with EVs?

When it became apparent that motor vehicles require regular service and customers demand a right to repair their vehicles on an ongoing basis.