Apple has been developing for years a vehicle that was supposed to be completely autonomous, without a steering wheel or pedals, but now it has to accept that with current technology this is impossible | The project was converted to the development of a vehicle that would be autonomous only on a highway, and the launch was postponed to 2026
Apple scaled back its ambitious plans to produce an autonomous electric vehicle and pushed back its launch target to 2026, the Bloomberg newspaper reported yesterday (Tuesday), from sources related to the issue. Following the announcement, the iPhone maker’s stock fell by 2.4%.
The company’s activity in the automotive field, known as “Project Titan”, has progressed inconsistently since 2014, when the company began to design the vehicle from scratch. Apple is now aiming for a less ambitious design, which will include a steering wheel and pedals and will support full autonomous driving capabilities only on highways, according to Bloomberg.
The report stated that the company plans to develop a vehicle that allows the driver to perform other tasks on highways, and receive an alert when he must switch to manual control of the vehicle.
Bloomberg reported last year that Apple is working to advance the launch of the vehicle to 2025 at the earliest, and that it is focusing the project on fully autonomous driving capabilities. Apple initially aspired to produce a car without a steering wheel and pedals, with an interior designed around driving without the driver’s involvement.