Bloomberg reported on the 6th, citing sources, that Apple has changed its ambitious self-driving electric car development goal (Apple Car) from ‘fully autonomous driving’ to ‘fully autonomous driving on highways’.
The target release date has also been pushed back to 2026, a year later than originally planned.
Plans to develop Apple’s car, dubbed “Project Titan,” have been in flux in recent months as executives grapple with the reality that a fully self-driving car isn’t practical with current technology, sources said.
Initially, Apple planned to apply ‘Level 5’ technology, which is the highest level of autonomous driving that car manufacturers have not yet implemented, to the Apple Car.
However, Apple eventually modified its plans to provide a steering wheel and pedals and support fully autonomous driving only on highways.
In other words, developing a level of self-driving car that gives drivers enough time to watch movies or play games while driving on the highway, and switch to manual driving when entering a city center or encountering bad weather .
Apple has been fixing the apple car strategy in the meantime, and in the process, the core workforce of the executive level has been followed.
Kevin Lynch, who was responsible for the Apple Watch operating system (OS) and took charge of Apple’s electric vehicle project from the end of last year, has been stabilizing the business considering this point, while focusing on more practical goals .
Apple’s electric vehicles are known to be in the ‘pre-prototype’ stage, where the design is currently unconfirmed.
Apple plans to complete the design of the electric vehicle by next year, equip it with various features by the end of 2024, and conduct extensive testing in 2025.
The interior design of the Apple Car, which was supposed to be released as a fully autonomous vehicle in 2025, was originally a limousine style where passengers sit facing each other, but with this strategy review, it has changed to a traditional form with driver seat.
This change in Apple Car strategy shows that Apple is struggling in the face of technological obstacles that have plagued the world’s largest companies as it pursues the development of an entirely new product line, Bloomberg said.
In the end, this plan may be Apple’s new profitable product, but on the other hand, it tests Apple’s limits.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
YTN Lim Soo-geun (sglim@ytn.co.kr)
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