Apple Hits the Brakes on EV Project

US tech giant Apple has reportedly pulled the plug on its electric car project after a 10-year investment into the technology.  Employees are being shifted to Apple’s AI division. 

Apple originally wanted to release a self-driving vehicle as early as 2024; that obviously didn’t happen. While billions were spent on R&D, plans to create a radical, autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel were scaled down to a conventional car with advanced driver-assistance features. Tesla also decided to pull back on investments, with some shifting plans to focus on hybrids instead of fully battery-powered cars. 

Apple informed teams working on Project Titan that the hundreds of employees who worked on the car will be shifted to divisions working on artificial intelligence. Many, however, are expected to be laid off.

Analysts said Apple was still many years away from ever releasing its own car. Engineers at the company have been testing Apple car technology on public roads for years.

Apple never publicly revealed it was developing a self-driving vehicle, but analysts expected the company to price it around $100,000 and be a potential rival to some models of Tesla’s electric cars.