Apple Project Titan EV still going, aims for 2024 launch

The technology giant Apple Inc’s on-again off-again plan to build a battery electric vehicle is apparently on again.

According to an exclusive report by news agency Reuters, Project Titan will produce a passenger vehicle in 2024.

Not only that, Reuters says it will featuring self-driving capability and a breakthrough battery technology.

Quoting anonymous sources familiar with Project Titan, which has been around in one form or another since 2014, Reuters says the iPhone developer’s vehicle will be aimed at private buyers and not just designed for shared mobility fleets such as Waymo, which is owned by Apple’s Silicon Valley rival Alphabet (Google).

Sources also say Apple has yet to choose between two ways of bringing its tech to market.

The first is to partner with a manufacturing specialist to build its bespoke design. The second is to align with a brand and contribute its autonomous driving system to an existing EV architecture.

Coincidentally, the manufaturer of the iPhone, Foxconn, has its own EV plans.

The battery Apple has identified for use has a unique monocell design that Reuters says bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules.

More space means more active material can be packed inside the pack, leading to potentially better performance and a longer range.

Apple is also considering using LFP – or lithium iron phosphate – chemistry for its battery. LFP is less likely to overheat than other types of Li-ion batteries and is cheaper because it doesn’t use cobalt or nickel.

Tesla already uses this tech in China.

Apple commenced designing a BEV from scratch in 2014. It had previously talked to auto supplier Magna Steyr about building its vehicle, but those talks reportedly petered out.

Magna has since signed deals with Fisker Inc and China’s BAIC to build BEVs based on its bespoke electric vehicle architecture.

In 2015 it was reported Project Titan was planned to deliver a vehicle in 2019. In 2016, reports emerged the project was dead.

Project Titan appeared to be all systems go in 2018 when veteran employee Doug Field retuned from Tesla in 2018 to oversee it. But the following year he sacked team members.

Apple has recently been granted several automotive patents for a system that detects windshield cracks, a sensor enclosure and a holographic head-up display. These came after patents for steer-by-wire and suspension systems in 2019.

Apple refused to comment when contacted by Reuters.