Apple has rebooted its ‘Titan’ project to design its own self-driving vehicle and intends to start producing Apple-branded electric cars starting in 2024, according to numerous unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The company reportedly scaled back its automotive ambitions in 2016 but the project has progressed since Doug Field, an Apple veteran who had worked at Tesla, took over operations in 2018, said the report, adding that Apple’s aim is to make a passenger vehicle for the mass market that could include its own breakthrough battery technology.
The alleged new battery design could “radically” reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range, according to an unnamed source who has seen the new technology. The company plans to use a unique “monocell” design that packs more individual cells in the battery and frees up space by eliminating pouches and modules that hold battery materials, said a source.
Apple is also examining a battery technology called lithium iron phosphate (LFP) that is less likely to overheat and thus safer than lithium-ion batteries, added the source.
