According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Apple has decided to stop its efforts to create an electric car. The tech giant had been working on this ambitious project for almost a decade but never publicly talked about it. The decision to halt the “Apple Car” project was shared on Tuesday by Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, who led the project, with the approximately 2,000 people involved.
The reasons behind Apple’s decision are not entirely clear, but it could be due to constantly changing design plans, difficulties finding a manufacturer, rising development costs, and a cooling market for electric vehicles. Many of those who were working on the car will now apparently move to projects related to generative AI, a growing focus for many tech companies. However, it seems likely that there will be some layoffs among the several hundred hardware engineers and vehicle designers.
Bloomberg reporter and Apple insider Mark Gurman called Apple’s decision to abandon its car project a huge shock, considering the company had invested billions of dollars over the last ten years. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the chief of electric car maker Tesla, posted a saluting emoji and a cigarette emoji on social media, seemingly relieved that Tesla no longer has to compete with Apple’s potential electric vehicle.
Over the years, Apple’s car project hit the news multiple times, with leaks suggesting that the project was experiencing a lot of turbulence and uncertainty. The leadership team changed several times, as did the design plans. Initially, Apple aimed to build a fully autonomous electric vehicle without a steering wheel and pedals. Later, the company shifted to designing a vehicle with advanced driverless features for highways. Most recently, Apple reportedly pivoted again to create an electric vehicle with even fewer self-driving features.
The last update indicated that Apple was aiming to launch its car in 2028. But now, it looks like the company has completely given up on the project, ending an initiative that turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. Digital Trends has reached out to Apple for a comment on this development and will update the article when Apple responds.