La prestigiosa compa\u00f1\u00eda Apple Inc., avanza en el desarrollo de un veh\u00edculo aut\u00f3nomo con el objetivo de su lanzamiento para el 2024,\u00a0 resultando todo un desaf\u00edo incursionar en un competitivo mercado como el automotriz. El proyecto denominado TITAN, apuesta a \u00a0soluciones revolucionarias que los diferencien de sus eventuales competidores, enfoc\u00e1ndose en nuevas tecnolog\u00edas tales de bater\u00edas de menores dimensiones, complejidad y peso, que garanticen adem\u00e1s mayor autonom\u00eda.<\/p>\n
(Reuters) – Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The iPhone maker\u2019s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it first started to design its own vehicle from scratch. At one point, Apple drew back the effort to focus on software and reassessed its goals. Doug Field, an Apple veteran who had worked at Tesla Inc, returned to oversee the project in 2018 and laid off 190 people from the team in 2019.<\/p>\n
Since then, Apple has progressed enough that it now aims to build a vehicle for consumers, two people familiar with the effort said, asking not to be named because Apple\u2019s plans are not public. Apple\u2019s goal of building a personal vehicle for the mass market contrasts with rivals such as Alphabet Inc\u2019s Waymo, which has built robo-taxis to carry passengers for a driverless ride-hailing service.<\/p>\n
Central to Apple\u2019s strategy is a new battery design that could \u201cradically\u201d reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle\u2019s range, according to a third person who has seen Apple\u2019s battery design.<\/p>\n
Apple declined to comment on its plans or future products.<\/p>\n
Making a vehicle represents a supply chain challenge even for Apple, a company with deep pockets that makes hundreds of millions of electronics products each year with parts from around the world, but has never made a car. It took Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla 17 years before it finally turned a sustained profit making cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is one company on the planet that has the resources to do that, it\u2019s probably Apple. But at the same time, it\u2019s not a cellphone,\u201d said a person who worked on Project Titan.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear who would assemble an Apple-branded car, but sources have said they expect the company to rely on a manufacturing partner to build vehicles. And there is still a chance Apple will decide to reduce the scope of its efforts to an autonomous driving system that would be integrated with a car made by a traditional automaker, rather than the iPhone maker selling an Apple-branded car, one of the people added.<\/p>\n
Two people with knowledge of Apple\u2019s plans warned pandemic-related delays could push the start of production into 2025 or beyond.<\/p>\n
Shares of Tesla ended 6.5% lower on Monday after their debut in the S&P 500 on Monday. Apple shares ended 1.24% higher after the news.<\/p>\n
Apple has decided to tap outside partners for elements of the system, including lidar sensors, which help self-driving cars get a three-dimensional view of the road, two people familiar with the company\u2019s plans said.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s car might feature multiple lidar sensors for scanning different distances, another person said. Some sensors could be derived from Apple\u2019s internally developed lidar units, that person said. Apple\u2019s iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro models released this year both feature lidar sensors.<\/p>\n
Reuters had previously reported that Apple had held talks with potential lidar suppliers, but it was also examining building its own sensor.<\/p>\n
As for the car\u2019s battery, Apple plans to use a unique \u201cmonocell\u201d design that bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules that hold battery materials, one of the people said.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s design means that more active material can be packed inside the battery, giving the car a potentially longer range. Apple is also examining a chemistry for the battery called LFP, or lithium iron phosphate, the person said, which is inherently less likely to overheat and is thus safer than other types of lithium-ion batteries.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt\u2019s next level,\u201d the person said of Apple\u2019s battery technology. \u201cLike the first time you saw the iPhone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apple had previously engaged Magna International Inc in talks about manufacturing a car, but the talks petered out as Apple\u2019s plans became unclear, a person familiar with those previous efforts said. Magna did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
To turn a profit, automotive contract manufacturers often ask for volumes that could pose a challenge even to Apple, which would be a newcomer to the automotive market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to have a viable assembly plant, you need 100,000 vehicles annually, with more volume to come,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n
Some Apple investors reacted to the Reuters report on the company\u2019s plans with caution. Trip Miller, managing partner at Apple investor Gullane Capital Partners, said it could be tough for Apple to produce large volumes of cars out of the gate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would seem to me that if Apple develops some advanced operating system or battery technology, it would be best utilized in a partnership with an existing manufacturer under license,\u201d Miller said. \u201cAs we see with Tesla and the legacy auto companies, having a very complex manufacturing network around the globe doesn\u2019t happen overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hal Eddins, chief economist at Apple shareholder Capital Investment Counsel, said Apple has a history of higher margins than most automakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy initial reaction as a shareholder is, huh?\u201d Eddins said. \u201cStill don\u2019t really see the appeal of the car business, but Apple may be eyeing another angle than what I\u2019m seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n