That’s right – Apple are going to build a car. Not just any car though. It’s to be a self driving car with ground-breaking battery technology. Project Titan, which started back in 2014, has had a stop-start life so far, but now a date of 2024 seems to be a target according to people who previously worked on the project.
It’s not clear if Apple will build the actual car or if they will partner with a current manufacturer. This will create two options: either the manufacturer would build an Apple-branded car, or the Apple technology would be used in a car belonging to the manufacturer. A Canadian contract manufacturing company called Magna International are hotly tipped as being that partner. Magna are already building cars in their Magna-Steyr factory in Austria for manufacturers such as Mercedes and BMW.
Central to the success it seems is a new battery design by Apple that will largely reduce the cost of batteries, and more importantly will drastically increase the batteries’ range. The iPhone maker is one of the richest companies in the world, and while it might have the deep pockets required, the motor manufacturing business is far different from their current business model, so there will be challenges ahead. Then again, Apple seem to thrive on challenges, so watch out for more news on the proposed Apple motor.
By Tom Heavey, Managing Editor