The mega company’s hyped self-driving electric car is getting a steering wheel and pedals after all.
The information technology company Apple has postponed the release of its vehicle until 2026 at the earliest. At the same time, the car’s self-driving capabilities are being watered down, because the car is getting control devices and it would only be autonomous on highways, reports Bloomberg based on its own sources.
The electric car development work called Project Titan began in 2014 and according to Bloomberg’s previous information, it was supposed to be ready at the beginning of 2025, which means that there will be a delay of at least a year.
The original idea was also that the car would not have a steering wheel or pedals at all, and the interior was to be designed in a limousine style under the conditions of fully autonomous driving.
About a thousand people work on the Apple car. According to the American media, part of the reason for the delay may be the departure of many important factors to other companies. For example, Doug Field, the technical director with a Tesla background who led the Titan team, joined Ford a year ago.
Apple is by no means the only gambler for whom autonomous driving has proven to be more difficult to implement than predicted. Tesla’s Autopilot system, which aims for autonomous driving, has faced serious challenges both in its operation and from the authorities, and recently the startup Argo AI, funded by Volkswagen and Ford, put a stop to it.