(Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor)
Apple has pushed back the launch date for its first electric vehicle from 2026 to 2028, Bloomberg reports.
The company's efforts to develop an electric car go back years, with the first media coverage beginning around 2015. At the time, Apple was reportedly staffing hundreds of employees to build prototypes and develop a minivan-style vehicle. But here we are almost a decade later, with no public acknowledgement of the project by Apple and certainly no iCars on the road.
After pressure from the board to clarify the plans in 2023, Apple decided to formulate a more realistic plan. In addition to delaying the vehicle's release, Apple also downgraded its target level of autonomous driving from level 4 to "level 2+", per the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) scale. Level 4 vehicles require no driver intervention, or even a steering wheel. Level 2+ is similar to that of a Tesla with full self-driving, which still has a steering wheel and requires the driver to intervene as needed.
Apple's design is reportedly still in the "pre-prototype" stage, and CEO Tim Cook has been involved since the project's inception. The decision to dial back its ambitions is considered a "pivotal moment" for the project, though not surprising given the rollercoaster year 2023 was for self-driving cars.
Last year saw significant progress with advanced driver assistance systems, such as Mercedes receiving permission to operate the vehicle with level 3 autonomy, the highest of any automaker in the US, in California and Nevada. But 2023 was also marked with the disastrous rollout of paid robotaxi service in San Francisco by GM-backed Cruise, which culminated in it removing all its vehicles from service nationwide and the resignation of its CEO.
Meanwhile, the electric vehicle market is still growing, though most major manufacturers expect the double-digit growth to slow in 2023. Battery prices remain stubbornly high, however, and buyers have fewer affordable choices in 2024 as automakers raise prices in hopes of finally making a profit.
It remains to be seen if Apple's semi-autonomous EV will ever make it to market, though the company is reportedly discussing the revised plans with potential manufacturing partners. Until then, Apple's most significant automotive technology remains CarPlay and crash detection.