According to media reports, the US tech giant Apple wants to produce its first own electric car as early as 2024 and thus launch an attack on Tesla.
Cupertino - no matter if
iPhone
,
iPad
or
Mac
.
The products of the US technology company
Apple Inc. have
sold millions of times worldwide for years and have long since become more than just mobile phones or computers - they are status symbols.
This fact is arguably one of the reasons for the enormous success that
Apple has achieved
over the past few years and decades.
So it would be only logical for the group based in
Cupertino
,
California
, to take the next step with regard to the product range.
In the past decade, rumors circulated that
Apple should work
on developing its own
car
.
After iPod and
iPhone
so the
iCar
?
In 2014, several US media reported that the tech giant would have several hundred employees work on the development of an
electric car
under the project name "Titan"
.
The
Wall Street Journal
wrote, for example,
“
Apple
shifts up a gear to
Tesla
to
challenge
with
electric cars
".
+
The great role model?
Will Apple still manage to compete with Tesla in the market for electric cars?
© Picture Alliance / John G. Mabanglo
Is Apple launching the attack on Tesla?
Auto project fell into disuse
But while
Tesla
not only had an impressive run on the stock market, but was also able to put more and more cars on the road,
Apple's
automotive division made
little progress.
First, Titan project manager Steve Zadesky left the company after more than 15 years and then the management of Apple's car project changed several times, as
meedia
reports.
In the meantime, reports made the rounds that
Apple had
abandoned building its own car and would work much more on the development of a
software platform
for autonomous driving.
An insider
even
spoke to
Bloomberg
of an “unbelievable failure of leadership” that should have happened within the group in relation to Project Titan.
Apple: Surprising news - tech giant wants to produce cars as early as 2024
But perhaps it was precisely the ongoing success of
Tesla
that
caused a renewed rethink in
Apple's
management
.
Because the Reuters news agency surprised with an exclusive message on Monday.
Accordingly,
Apple
is still working on the production of an autonomous car and the real hammer: the tech company wants to produce such a vehicle as early as 2024.
Exclusive: Apple is moving forward with self-driving car technology, aiming to produce a passenger vehicle by 2024 https://t.co/6KtP72voWc pic.twitter.com/ACdqcccLcv
- Reuters (@Reuters) December 21, 2020
After years of calm around Project Titan, everything could go very quickly now.
As two people familiar with the process admitted to Reuters,
Apple
wants to
set new standards,
especially in terms of
battery technology
.
A space-saving battery in a "monocell" design is to be used for this.
“It's the next level.
Like the first time you saw the iPhone, ”enthuses one of the insiders.
Will the Apple Car arrive in 2024?
There's at least one catch
There is still one catch with the report.
As Reuters explained, it is still not ruled out that
Apple
will only
limit
itself to the
software
part of automobile production and then build these technological achievements into models from a third-party manufacturer.
Either way,
Apple
could
become a big player in another area and
represent serious competition in the
electric car
market,
which is largely
dominated
by
Tesla
.
In any case, it will take at least another three years before the first “
AppleCar
”
rolls off the assembly
line.
However, renewed delays due to the effects of the
corona pandemic
cannot be ruled out.
For
Apple
fans and technology enthusiasts, these news are still cause for joy.
(fd)