The American giant still wants to market a new autonomous car. But this Apple Car should be less accomplished than the one initially presented.
Apple’s autonomous car project has experienced several twists and turns in recent years, with the vehicle’s release date constantly being postponed. A year ago, the public learned that the Titan project, which was to give birth to the Apple Car, was being resized, with a launch this time scheduled for 2026. A date which has once again just been corrected.
Ambitions revised downwards
The Apple Car is not dead. But his face will be completely different from the one that was presented almost a decade ago. Indeed, according to Mark Gurman, the journalist from Bloomberg specialized in brand news, Apple would now be more sober in its ambitions.
The Apple Car will thus no longer be a vehicle benefiting from level 4 autonomy (i.e. very high autonomy), but a car with level 2 + autonomy. To situate this change, it should be remembered that Tesla’s Autopilot is considered to reach level 2 on the autonomy scale. Apple, which dreamed of a vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, has therefore returned to earth.
A necessary shift?
And this competitor to Tesla’s Model the one that made many lovers of the brand fantasize in the mid-2010s.
This change of gear seemed obligatory in any case to be able to offer a viable product within a few years. “ Either the company is ultimately able to deliver this product with reduced expectations, or senior management may seriously reconsider the existence of the project » notes Mark Gurman.
However, if Apple now wants to start with a car quite similar to the Tesla, it would not have abandoned its desire to ultimately produce a vehicle reaching the famous level 4 of autonomy. But wouldn’t it then do it too late, when we know that Mercedes has already seen one of its vehicles be certified level 3 in Nevada a year ago?
Source : Engadget
16