'Titan Project' to Produce First Apple Car

Posted by Kirhat | Friday, June 10, 2016 | | 0 comments »

Apple Car
Apple followers may still be caught up by the frenzy brought about by the launch of Apple iPhone SE a few weeks ago. However, if they think that the tech company is focusing too much on its handheld products and wearables, then they are in for a surprise. According to sources, the company is currently experimenting with a highly secretive automotive project.

A few days ago, we reported that Apple is working on a Tesla-like car that could possibly be a self-driving vehicle. Rumor has it that the company has been engross with this project and recent leaks support the allegations that an Apple Car is a very real possibility. This apparently has the codename of "Titan", and reports have suggested that this purported electric car is well beyond the concept stage.

Reports have indicated that serious work is already underway on the Titan at Apple’s Cupertino campus. Sources closer to Apple have suggested that the company has been receiving shipments related to electric car manufacturing in recent weeks. Apple Insider has already confirmed that Apple has a large presence at this location, and that a variety of automotive-related renovations have been made to this facility. These include a reported auto work area and repair garage.

The news about a possible Apple electric car is only the latest chapter in this particular saga. Apple has had a pretty close relationship with Tesla, the electric car manufacturing market-leader, in recent months. It was rendered in 2014 that Apple was in discussions with Tesla over a possible buyout, and although both parties have emphatically denied this, it is clear that talks took place between the hierarchies of the two companies.

Since then, the notion of an Apple car, and the idea that Apple will buy out Tesla, both intensified. And these latest morsels of information will only expand this process, regardless of the fact that some analysts have dismissed the idea that Apple will produce an electric car.

Certainly there are very obvious arguments against Apple producing such a vehicle from scratch. Firstly, the task of manufacturing a roadworthy motor vehicle is a massive undertaking. There can be significant technical issues for companies that have decades of experience of this, so for Apple to go into this completely raw would honestly be a massive challenge for the corporation.

Not only is this a huge challenge in itself, but the electric car market is still relatively raw and embryonic, and establishing a successful product within it, while challenging gasoline-based vehicles, will be no picnic even for a behemoth such as Apple. And the production facilities for a range of motor vehicles is well beyond the scope of what Apple has even in its already massive supply chain.

Additionally, the motor vehicle market is one of the most competitive on the planet, not only commercially but also critically. Whereas Apple has been able to rely upon its reputation in consumer electronics, this would be absolutely worthless, or at least bordering on it, within the motor trade. And Apple Car would then be subjected to the unforgiving prospect of the motoring media, and there is little doubt that they would savage any vehicle from this wet-behind-the-ears upstart that they perceived to be of dubious quality.

Moving into such a completely new field also doesn’t really seem to fit in with the traditional Apple ethos. What Apple has done particularly well in recent years is execute products which are well within its capabilities to the nth degree. Apple in fact prides itself on ensuring that products do not reach the marketplace unless they are of the requisite quality and slickness.

This has led to the Apple portfolio actually being pretty conservative in recent years. For many years, Apple fans have been hankering after a television set from the corporation, something which it promised some time ago. But Apple has not delivered this, despite the boasts of its CEO, Tim Cook, that an Apple TV will hugely improve upon the functionality of existing television sets. We probably will see an Apple TV at some point, but the corporation wants to ensure that it is absolutely right before it is released. One can only speculate how long it would require to produce an acceptable electric car.

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