Apple’s electric car is delayed, but will arrive with a steering wheel

According to a report by Bloomberg, the electric car developed by Apple will only manage level 2+ instead of autonomy level 4. And that is the level of many of today’s vehicles, which are still controlled by a human with steering wheel and pedals, only occasionally can the control be handed over to the assistance systems – but the human always remains in charge.

The background to the decision to launch a vehicle with level 2+ on the market is said to be Apple’s realization that the leap from partially automated driving (level 2) to fully automated driving (level 4) cannot be achieved in the foreseeable future. At level 4, the driver can relinquish control completely and thus becomes a passenger. The vehicle can handle journeys on certain routes independently, for example on the highway or in a parking garage. There, the vehicle can also drive without passengers – as is currently being tested but not yet implemented on a large scale.

The decision not to wait for Level 4 was made after a meeting between the Board of Directors, Apple CEO Tim Cook and project manager Kevin Lynch. The new delay is likely to be directly related to this: The vehicle, which according to various media reports has allegedly been in development since 2014, was after all previously planned purely as an autonomous car. It may now be possible to dispense with some sensors, but above all the entire design has to be based on a steering wheel and pedals – if these can be omitted from the interior design, this will ultimately open up new possibilities for the design and arrangement of certain components.

There have been many rumours about the entire Titan project for many years. In typical company fashion, Apple itself has never communicated an official interim development status or given the public any insights. However, the company is said to have shown advanced prototypes of the vehicle to potential production partners from the automotive industry several years ago – there were even concrete rumours that Kia was to become the production partner. There are also said to have been negotiations with CATL and BYD. However, Apple is said to have later rejected the idea of producing its own car in order to concentrate on the software for autonomous driving.

Now, however, there is once again talk of a specially designed Apple car. According to Bloomberg, this will be upgraded with additional features over time. Here too, Apple would be following the path of other car manufacturers, bringing the hardware onto the market and adding further software functions via updates. Only the future will tell whether this will actually happen with Apple’s ‘iCar’. Maybe 2026, maybe 2028, maybe not at all.

bloomberg.com (Paywall), forbes.com