Apple Car Development Stalls Again, Not Expected for Release Until 2021

If you’re an electric car driver you’ve likely heard about Apple’s not-so-secret project “Titan.” The car would run on battery power and has been rumored to be in development since 2014, and new rumors speculate it might be in development for another five years.

Moving into the EV industry is an enormous effort and Apple has looked for advice on battery and charging systems. The company also has hired experts in the field, some from Tesla. Now it appears Apple is pushing back their phantom project to 2021, “because of challenges the engineering group has run into,” writes Buster Hein from Cult of Mac. The possible problems in the project began early this year, according to Hein, “The mastermind behind Project Titan, Steve Zadesky, left the company in January. He was recently replaced by former Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering, Chris Porritt.”

The new problem regards “processing and collecting data” from the car’s computer system as the data is collected by the car’s self-driving sensors, according to Hein. Apple employees from the Siri team are working on a fix, he writes. This could be a bad sign for the project, adding to an earlier report that a hiring freeze was placed on the project because of Jony Ive’s expressed displeasure with its development.

Apple’s struggle to secretly build an Apple car is indicative of the electric car industry, which has its own problems. Battery range and charging time are the main obstacles for electric cars, something Nissan knows all to well. Other auto manufactures are working to overcome these hurdles. It’s not clear how Apple will address those issues.

Jordan Golson from The Verge had this comment, “But building a car from scratch is a fantastically difficult proposition, especially for a company as detail obsessed as Apple. Where another carmaker might say ‘that’s good enough, ship it,’ Apple could spend years refining the design (or decide to kill it altogether).” Apple fans better not get their hopes up.

It’s a huge challenge for any company to move into a new industry. Regardless, this is certainly disappointing news for EV fans who were hoping to drive an Apple designed car this decade. At least there is always CarPlay, for those who want to “feel” like they are in an Apple car.

Featured Photo: Motor1