• Apple's vehicle project would be postponed again.
With electrification, new players are emerging in the automotive world. Among those talked about in recent years were Sony and Apple. If the electronics giant appears to be taking steps together with its partner Honda, we on Apple's side would rather proceed “on the spot.”
The technology giant first floated the idea of producing a self-driving electric car in 2014. Ten years later we are still waiting for a concept.
According to Bloomberg, which reports this news, the car's debut will be pushed back to 2028. We are told that the pandemic has delayed everything, but that remains an easy excuse, especially in view of this project, which does not seem to be moving forward very quickly. .
A few years ago, the Portal Group mentioned that Apple was targeting 2024 to start production. Then the year 2026 was brought forward a little later, but as we can see, we are still a long way from the cut.
This time, Bloomberg cites anonymous sources familiar with the project. The latter claim, among other things, that the vehicle's autonomous capabilities are significantly more limited than expected. We originally hoped to launch a fully autonomous Level 5 system, but we would have reworked everything to reach Level 4. The latter allows autonomous driving on certain permitted highways, but requires driver intervention in other locations.
The company's original plans called for autonomous taxis without a traditional driver position. This would not be possible with a level 4.
Current rumors suggest that Apple's car would initially be limited to slightly improved Level 2 autonomy. Basically, this is the case with most vehicles that currently have this technology. We would then like to upgrade it to level 4.
Still, according to Bloomberg, Apple wants its car to use the Tesla recipe, with an “elegant design, safety systems and a unique user interface.”
But of course, for all of this to become a reality, the company needs to build a car. There are many wishes in all of this, but nothing concrete.
Some are beginning to doubt the project. And you ?