Apple Park is headquartered in Cupertino, California.
Photographer: Sam Hall / Bloomberg
Photographer: Sam Hall / Bloomberg
Apple Inc. at least half a decade to launch an autonomous electric vehicle as development work is still at an early stage, according to people familiar with the efforts.
The Cupertino technology giant, based in California, has a small team of hardware engineers developing drive systems, vehicle interior design and an exterior car body with the ultimate goal of removing a vehicle. That is a more ambitious goal than in previous years when the project was largely focused on creating a self-driving system. The company also has more ex-Tesla Inc. officers. contributed to the project.
However, some Apple engineers on the project believe the company could release a product in five to seven years if Apple goes ahead with its plans. The car is not close to production level, the people said, although they warned that timelines could change. They asked not to be identified talking about sensitive, internal work. Most of the team currently work from home or in the office for a short period of time, slowing down the company’s ability to develop a full vehicle. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Apple’s car would compete with electric vehicles from Tesla and offers from companies such as upstart Lucid Motors and established manufacturers such as Dacedler’s Mercedes-Benz and General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet. A key difference would be Apple’s ability to integrate their self-driving system, a valuable initiative that forced the company to develop their own software, sensing hardware and chip technologies. The goal is to allow a user to enter their destination and be directed there with very little other communication, according to the people familiar with the project.
Apple test car for the self-driving system in 2017
Bloomberg
Apple won’t make its own products, and it’s likely to be in the same way as a vehicle. It is not clear which company would collect the car, however. In its first attempt about five years ago, Apple working with engineers from Magna International Inc., a leading auto industry manufacturing company. Reuters recently announced that Apple aims to launch a car as early as 2024.
Apple has continued to explore building the self-driving car system for a third-party car partner rather than its own, the people said, and it could repeat the car efforts let himself be swayed by this approach.
The company first tried to build an electric car in 2014, hiring hundreds of hardware engineers for the effort before quickly replacing it around 2016 to focus on the car system self-driving. From 2016 through 2019, Apple cut hundreds of employees off the team. However, he retained hardware engineers with experience in car components who stayed on the car project or worked on other ventures.
In a sign it has now revamped vehicle development, a few months ago Apple moved an action group known for its work inside and outside vehicles to its car crew. In 2019, Apple hired former Tesla vice president of engineering Steve MacManus, but initially worked on projects unrelated to the car. MacManus now leads a development group with several employees focused on car interiors, clothing, car testing and vehicle manufacturing, said people with experience. He reports to Doug Field, a former Tesla chief vehicle engineer who runs Apple ‘s car project on a day – to – day basis.
Apple also recently hired Jonathan Sive, a vehicle engineer from BMW AG, Tesla and Waybet Alphabet Inc., as senior manager of the car project. In 2019, Apple arrested Michael Schwekutsch, Tesla’s former vice president of drive systems, adding to a growing list of Tesla employees working on the vehicle’s drive .
In late 2020, Apple also hired another Tesla vice president, Stuart Bowers, according to someone familiar with the move. He led Tesla’s self-driving technology team until mid-2019 and was a venture capital firm Greylock Partners resided until July, according to its LinkedIn profile.
Apple’s car crew is filled with dozens of car engineers and other ex-Tesla self-driving. In total, Apple has hundreds of engineers working on the project, most of whom are developing the system of the self-driving cars rather than the fully-fledged vehicle.
Iain Giannandrea
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Late last year, Apple moved the project under John Giannandrea, head of artificial intelligence, suggesting that most of the development work is still on the autonomous software.
Read more: Apple is transferring Self-Drive Car Unit Command to AI Head
The smallest hardware team works on vehicle dynamics, drive trains, safety mechanics and battery technology. An attempt is also being made to rethink the interior of a car for a future in which people ride passively rather than steer.
In the last few months, Apple has posted to-do lists that show that this vehicle work is ramping up. The company seeks a chief engineer to integrate “audio drivers, tuners, speakers, microphones, wireless buses, power supplies, wireless communications and antennas” into autonomous systems.
Another job listing calls for an engineer with experience in LED lighting to “deliver a fully certified system ready for volume production,” suggesting that the company’s automated work is designed to produce mass production. . The company has also announced lists for engineers working on “high voltage” battery systems, a key part of electric cars.
Apple’s chip unit, led by Johny Srouji, is also playing a role in the development of the car, the people said. Since 2018, Srouji’s team has been developing an Army-based custom chip with a heavy focus on machine learning processing to power the basic self-driving car system.
The company has been testing autonomous technology on public roads since 2017. In 2019, the company’s test vehicles averaged about 118 miles before a human safety driver had to take control. That was up from 1 mile per disconnection in 2018, according to data from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The company has 66 cars in its fleet, according to the California DMV. That’s up from 55 vehicles allowed by mid-2018.