SixtyEight Research
Get SixtyEight Research essential facts below. View Videos or join the SixtyEight Research discussion. Add SixtyEight Research to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
SixtyEight Research

The Apple electric car project, codenamed "Titan,"[1] is an electric car project allegedly undergoing research and development by Apple Inc.[2] Apple still has yet to openly discuss any of its self-driving research,[3] with around 5,000 employees disclosed on the project as of 2018.[4] In May 2018, Apple reportedly partnered with Volkswagen to produce an autonomous employee shuttle van based on the T6 Transporter commercial vehicle platform.[5] In August 2018, the BBC reported that Apple had 66 road-registered driverless cars, with 111 drivers registered to operate those cars.[6] The Wall Street Journal reported on July 25, 2016 that Apple had hired Bob Mansfield to lead the Titan project.[7]

History

2014-2015

The project was rumored to be approved by Apple CEO Tim Cook in late 2014 and assigned to Vice President Steve Zadesky, a former Ford engineer as project in-charge.[8] For the project, Apple was rumored to have hired Johann Jungwirth, the former-president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, as well as at least one transmission engineer.[9][10][11][12]

By February 2015, it was rumored that a substantial number of Apple employees were working on an electric car project,[13][14] with Apple hiring new employees for the project as well.[15] Reports in February 2015 indicated that the company had been offering incentives to Tesla employees to join Apple.[16] In February 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that the product would resemble more of a minivan than a car,[13] and The Sydney Morning Herald said at that time that production could start as soon as 2020.[17][18]

In February 2015, Apple board member Mickey Drexler stated that Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs had plans to design and build a car, and that discussions about the concept surfaced around the time that Tesla Motors debuted its first car in 2008.[19] In November 2015, Former Apple iPod Senior VP Tony Fadell confirmed that Steve Jobs was interested in an Apple car back in 2008, shortly after the original iPhone was introduced.[20] In May 2015, Apple investor Carl Icahn stated that he believed rumors that Apple would enter the automobile market in 2020, and that logically Apple would view this car as "the ultimate mobile device".[21][22]

In August 2015, The Guardian reported that Apple were meeting with officials from GoMentum Station,[2] a testing ground for connected and autonomous vehicles at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station in Concord, California.[23] In September 2015, there were reports that Apple were meeting with self-driving car experts from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.[24][25][26][27] According to The Wall Street Journal in September 2015, it will be a battery electric vehicle, initially lacking full autonomous driving capability, with a possible unveiling around 2019.[28][29][30]

In October 2015, Tim Cook stated about the car industry that: "It would seem like there will be massive change in that industry, massive change. You may not agree with that. That's what I think..."We'll see what we do in the future. I do think that the industry is at an inflection point for massive change." Cook enumerated ways that the modern descendants of the Ford Model T would be shaken to the very chassis--the growing importance of software in the car of the future, the rise of autonomous vehicles, and the shift from an internal combustion engine to electrification.[31]

In November 2015, various websites reported that suspected Apple front SixtyEight Research had attended an auto body conference in Europe.[32] Also in November 2015, after unknown EV startup Faraday Future announced a $1 billion U.S. factory project,[33] some speculated that it might actually be a front for Apple's secret car project.[34][35] In late 2015, Apple contracted Torc Robotics to retrofit two Lexus SUVs with sensors in a project known internally as Baja.[5]

2016

In 2016, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk stated that Apple will probably make a compelling electric car: "It's pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it."[36] In May 2016, there were reports indicating Apple was interested in electric car charging stations.[37]

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 25, 2016 that Apple had convinced retired senior hardware engineering executive Bob Mansfield to return and take over the Titan project.[7][38] A few days later, on July 29, Bloomberg Technology reported that Apple had hired Dan Dodge, the founder and former chief executive officer of QNX, BlackBerry Ltd.'s automotive software division. According to Bloomberg, Dodge's hiring heralded a shift in emphasis at Apple's Project Titan, in which the company will give first priority to creating software for autonomous vehicles. However, the story said that Apple would continue to develop a vehicle of its own.[39] On September 9, The New York Times reported dozens of layoffs in an effort to reboot,[40] presumably from a team still numbering around 1,000.[41]

The following week, reports surfaced that Magna International, a contract vehicle manufacturer, had a small team working at Apple's Sunnyvale lab.[42]

2017

After a period of no new reports, car project news flared up again in mid-April, 2017, as word spread that Apple was permitted to test autonomous vehicles on California roads.[43] In mid-June, Tim Cook in an interview with Bloomberg TV said Apple was "focusing on autonomous systems" but not necessarily leading to an actual Apple car product, leaving speculation about Apple's role in the convergence of three disruptive "vectors of change": autonomous systems, electric vehicles and ride-sharing services.[44]

In mid-August, various sources reported that the car project was focusing on autonomous systems, now expected to test its technology in the real world using a company-operated inter-campus shuttle service between the main Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino and various Silicon Valley offices, including the new Apple Park.[45][46][47] Then at the end of August, around 17 former Titan team members, braking and suspension engineers with Detroit experience, were hired by autonomous vehicle startup Zoox,[48][49] described as "a robotics company pioneering autonomous mobility as-a-service".[50]

Oct. 2016 reports claimed the Titan project has a 2017 deadline to determine its fate - prove its practicality and viability, set a final direction.[51][52]

In November 2017, Apple employees Yin Zhou and Oncel Tuzel published a paper on VoxelNet, which uses a convolutional neural network to detect three dimensional objects using lidar.[53]

Transportation/tech website Jalopnik reported in late November that Apple was recruiting automotive test engineering and tech talent for autonomous systems work, and appeared to be surreptitiously leasing, via third parties, a former Fiat Chrysler proving grounds site in Surprise, Arizona (originally Wittman).[54] Also in 2017, the New York Times suggested that Apple had stopped developing its own self-driving car.[55] In response to such reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged publicly that year that the company was working on autonomous-car technology.[56]

2018

In January 2018, the company registered 27 self-driving vehicles with California's Department of Motor Vehicles.[56]

In May 2018, a New York Times article reported on major project news.[5] After proposed partnership arrangements with Germany's high-end brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz failed,[5] as did potential alliances with Nissan, BYD Auto, McLaren Automotive, and others, Apple reportedly partnered with Volkswagen to produce an autonomous employee shuttle van based on the T6 Transporter commercial vehicle platform.[5] The T6 Transports would be transformed into autonomous electric versions at VW's Italdesign subsidiary in Turin, Italy, with the frame, wheels, and chassis remaining the same.[5]

While Apple does its best to keep its autonomous vehicles plans secret,[57][58] regulatory filings do provide some factual insight into its activities. In September 2018, Apple was reportedly in third place in the number of California autonomous vehicle permits with 70, behind GM's Cruise (175) and Alphabet's Waymo (88).[58]

On July 7, 2018, a former Apple employee was arrested by the FBI for allegedly stealing trade secrets about Apple's self-driving car project.[56][57] He was charged by federal prosecutors.[59][56] The criminal complaint against the former employee revealed that at that time,[60] Apple still had yet to openly discuss any of its self-driving research,[3] with around 5,000 employees disclosed on the project.[61][4][3]

On August 24, 2018, it was reported that one of Apple's self-driving car had apparently been involved in a crash, when it was rear-ended during road-testing.[6][62] The crash occurred while the car was at a stop, waiting to merge into traffic about 3.5 miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, with no reported injuries.[63][64] At the time, the BBC reported that Apple had 66 road-registered driverless cars, with 111 drivers registered to operate those cars.[6]

In August 2018, there were reports about an Apple patent that warned riders what moves an autonomous car would make before it made them, purportedly to alleviate nervousness.[55]

Alleged employees and affiliates

  • Jamie Carlson, an engineer on Tesla's Autopilot self-driving car program, and before that he worked on automotive vision systems for Michigan-based supplier Gentex Corp.[65]
  • Megan McClain, a former Volkswagen AG engineer with expertise in automated driving.[65]
  • Vinay Palakkode, a graduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, a hub of automated driving research.[65]
  • Xianqiao Tong, an engineer who developed computer vision software for driver assistance systems at microchip maker Nvidia Corp NVDA.O.[65]
  • Paul Furgale, former deputy director of the Autonomous Systems Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.[65]
  • Sanjai Massey, an engineer with experience in developing connected and automated vehicles at Ford and several suppliers.[65]
  • Stefan Weber, a former Bosch engineer with experience in video-based driver assistance systems.[65]
  • Lech Szumilas, a former Delphi research scientist with expertise in computer vision and object detection.[65]
  • Doug Betts, former global quality leader at Fiat Chrysler.[66]
  • Johann Jungwirth, former CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development, North America, Inc.[67] – left for VW in Nov. 2015.[68]
  • Mujeeb Ijaz, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer, who founded A123 Systems's Venture Technologies division, which focused on materials research, electrical battery cell product development and advanced concepts (who helped recruited four to five staff researchers from A123, a battery technology company)[17]
  • Nancy Sun, formerly vice president of electrical engineering at electric motorcycle company Mission Motors in San Francisco.[69]
  • Mark Sherwood, formerly director of powertrain systems engineering at Mission Motors.[69]
  • Eyal Cohen, formerly vice president of software and electrical engineering at Mission Motors.[69]
  • Jonathan Cohen, former director of Nvidia's deep learning software.[70] Nvidia uses deep learning in its Nvidia Drive PX platform, which is used in driver assistance systems.[71]
  • Chris Porritt – former Tesla vice president of vehicle engineering and former Aston Martin chief engineer.[72]
  • Alex Hitzinger is a German engineer who until 31 March 2016 was the Technical Director of the Porsche LMP1 project.[73] He previously worked as Head of Advanced Technologies for the Red Bull and Toro Rosso Formula One teams.[74]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hotten, Russell (March 4, 2015). "Carmakers Face Challenge from Google and Apple". BBC News.
  2. ^ a b Harris, Mark (August 14, 2015). "Documents Confirm Apple Is Building Self-Driving Car". The Guardian. London.
  3. ^ a b c Allyson Chiu (July 11, 2018). "Ex-Apple engineer arrested on his way to China, charged with stealing company's autonomous car secrets". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018.
  4. ^ a b Bloomberg (July 11, 2018). "Ex-Apple engineer, accused of stealing driverless car secrets for Chinese firm, busted at San Jose airport". Japan Times. Retrieved 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nicas, Jack (23 May 2018). "Apple, Spurned by Others, Signs Deal With Volkswagen for Driverless Cars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Human driver crashes into Apple self-driving car". The Week. September 3, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Daisuke Wakabayashi (July 25, 2016). "Apple Taps Bob Mansfield to Oversee Car Project". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. ^ Jones, Chuck (February 14, 2015). "Hitting the Brakes on Apple's Electric Car". Forbes. Retrieved 2015.
  9. ^ Flanagan, Will (February 13, 2015). "A Titanic Announcement: Apple's Making Cars". Chicago Inno. Retrieved 2015.
  10. ^ Kahn, Jordan (February 19, 2015). "Revealed: The Experts Apple Hired to Build an Electric Car". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2015.
  11. ^ Higgins, Tim (February 17, 2015). "Apple Uniquely Positioned to Be Car Company". The Detroit News. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2015.
  12. ^ Taylor, Edward & Oreskovic, Alexei (February 14, 2015). "Apple Studies Self-Driving Car, Auto Industry Source Says". Reuters. Retrieved 2015.
  13. ^ a b Wakabayashi, Daisuke & Ramsey, Mike (February 13, 2015). "Apple's New Electric Car Could Give Tesla a Run for Its Money". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015.
  14. ^ Gallagher, Dan (February 17, 2015). "What Apple Is Driving At". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015.
  15. ^ Fitzpatrick, Alex (February 13, 2015). "Apple Reportedly Hiring for Mystery Car Project". Time. Retrieved 2015.
  16. ^ Andujar, Luis Miguel (February 13, 2015). "Apple Will Start Developing the Long-Waited iCar". TecHampster. Retrieved 2015.
  17. ^ a b Higgins, Tim (February 20, 2015). "Apple Wants to Start Making Cars as Soon as 2020". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015.
  18. ^ "Apple iCar project: New hot wheels on the road-Technact.com". 2018-02-20. Retrieved .
  19. ^ Colt, Sam (February 9, 2015). "Apple Board Member: 'Steve Jobs Was Gonna Design an iCar'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2015.
  20. ^ Satariano, Adam (November 4, 2015). "Steve Jobs Considered Building an Apple Car in 2008". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016.
  21. ^ Kawa, Luke (May 18, 2015). "Here's Why Carl Icahn Thinks Apple Will Surge to $240 per Share". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2015.
  22. ^ Icahn, Carl C. (May 18, 2015). "Carl Icahn Issues Open Letter to Tim Cook". Retrieved 2016.
  23. ^ "Vision: GoMentum Station". Retrieved 2015.
  24. ^ Harris, Mark (September 18, 2015). "Apple Meets California Officials to Discuss Self-Driving Car". The Guardian. London.
  25. ^ Thompson, Cadie. "One Big Sign the Apple Self-Driving Car Is Closer than We Thought". Tech Insider.
  26. ^ Swartz, Angela (September 18, 2015). "More Evidence Unearthed that Apple Is Working on Driverless Car". San Jose Business Journal.
  27. ^ Dove, Jackie. "Apple's Meeting with California DMV Suggests a Driverless Car Could Be on the Way". The Next Web.
  28. ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke (September 21, 2015). "Apple Speeds Up Electric-Car Effort, Sees 2019 Shipments". WSJ. Retrieved 2015.
  29. ^ "Report: Apple's Electric Car Arriving in 2019". USA Today. September 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015.
  30. ^ Raymundo, Oscar (September 21, 2015). "Report: Apple's Electric Car to Hit the Road in 2019 but It Won't Be Driverless". Macworld. Retrieved 2015.
  31. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn. "Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Massive Change' Is Coming to Cars". Re/code. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015.
  32. ^ "Shadowy Group Linked to Apple's 'Project Titan' Spotted at Auto Industry Conference". Appleinsider. November 9, 2015.
  33. ^ Pritchard, Justin (November 8, 2015). "A Mysterious Electric-Car Startup Is Building a $1 Billion Factory in California". Business Insider.
  34. ^ Fingas, Roger (November 6, 2015). "Rumor Claims New Electric Car Maker Faraday Future Is Front for Apple". AppleInsider.
  35. ^ Gorzelany, Jim (November 9, 2015). "Is Faraday Apple's Automotive 'Beard?'". Forbes.
  36. ^ "Tesla Chief Elon Musk Says Apple Is Making an Electric Car". BBC News. Retrieved 2016.
  37. ^ Love, Julia & Sage, Alexandria (May 26, 2016). "Exclusive: Apple Explores Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles". Reuters. Retrieved 2016.
  38. ^ Zac Hall (July 25, 2016). "WSJ: Apple recruits retired hardware expert Bob Mansfield to lead Apple Car project". 9 to 5 Mac.
  39. ^ atbwebb, Mark Gurman markgurman Alex Webb. "Apple Hires BlackBerry Talent With Car Project Turning to Self-Driving Software". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016.
  40. ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke. "Apple Is Said to Be Rethinking Strategy on Self-Driving Cars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016.
  41. ^ Bryan Chaffin (September 10, 2016). "Bob Mansfield Reportedly Shaking Up Apple Car Project With Layoffs". The Mac Observer.
  42. ^ Kif Leswing (September 15, 2016). "This little-known company could be building Apple's car". Business Insider.
  43. ^ Andrew J. Hawkins (April 14, 2017). "Apple just received a permit to test self-driving cars in California". The Verge.
  44. ^ Ben Lovejoy (June 13, 2017). "Tim Cook says self-driving car tech 'incredibly exciting,' Apple may or may not make a car". 9 to 5 Mac.
  45. ^ Daisuke Wakabayashi (August 22, 2017). "Apple Scales Back Its Ambitions for a Self-Driving Car". The New York Times.
  46. ^ Mikey Campbell (August 22, 2017). "Self-driving campus shuttle to rise from ashes of Apple's 'Project Titan,' report says". AppleInsider.
  47. ^ Matt Weinberger (August 22, 2017). "Apple reportedly scaled back its car ambitions because nobody could agree on what an Apple Car should do". Business Insider.
  48. ^ Seung Lee (August 30, 2017). "Apple self-driving engineers head to startup Zoox". San Jose Mercury News.
  49. ^ Juli Clover (August 30, 2017). "Autonomous Vehicle Startup Zoox Snags 17 Former Apple Automotive Engineers". MacRumors.
  50. ^ "Zoox | Crunchbase". CrunchBase.
  51. ^ Roger Fingas (October 17, 2016). "'Apple Car' project to choose new direction in late 2017 - report". Apple Insider.
  52. ^ Berkeley Lovelace Jr. (October 17, 2016). "Apple executives to decide fate of self-driving car by late 2017: Report". CNBC.
  53. ^ Yin Zhou; Oncel Tuzel. "VoxelNet: End-to-End Learning for Point Cloud Based 3D Object Detection" (PDF).
  54. ^ Felton, Ryan. "Apple Might Be Leasing Chrysler's Old Proving Grounds To Test Autonomous Car Technology". Jalopnik. Retrieved 2017.
  55. ^ a b Todd Haselton (August 21, 2018). "Apple has an idea for self-driving cars to tell riders what they're about to do so they don't get nervous". CNBC.
  56. ^ a b c d Klint Finley (July 10, 2018). "Ex-Apple Employee Accused of Stealing Self-Driving-Car Tech". Wired. Retrieved 2018.
  57. ^ a b Kadhim Shubber and Tim Bradshaw (July 10, 2018). "Apple self-driving car secrets allegedly stolen". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2018.
  58. ^ a b "Apple's autonomous vehicle fleet swells 27% in four months". TechCrunch. Retrieved .
  59. ^ "Apple employee 'stole driverless car secrets'". BBC. July 11, 2018. Retrieved 2018.
  60. ^ David Silver (July 18, 2018). "Apple And Zoox Show How Stealth And Learning Are In Tension On Self-Driving Cars". Forbes. Retrieved 2018.
  61. ^ Jillian D'Onfro (July 10, 2018). "New details about Apple's autonomous driving technology revealed in criminal complaint against ex-engineer". CNBC. Retrieved 2018.
  62. ^ Mariella Moon (September 1, 2018). "Apple reports its first self-driving car crash". Engadget. Retrieved 2018.
  63. ^ Dave Lee (September 1, 2018). "Apple self-driving car in minor crash". BBC. Retrieved 2018.
  64. ^ Becky Peterson (August 31, 2018). "One of Apple's secretive self-driving cars got in a crash for the first time -- but it doesn't seem to be Apple's fault". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018.
  65. ^ a b c d e f g h Lienert, Paul & Love, Julia (August 21, 2015). "Tesla Engineer Joins Apple's Growing Team of Automated Car Experts". Reuters.
  66. ^ Pagliery, Jose (July 21, 2015). "Apple Adds a Chrysler Exec to Its Team. Is a Car far Behind?". CNNMoney.
  67. ^ Andronico, Michael (July 21, 2015). "Apple Electric Car Steers Closer to Reality". Tom's Guide.
  68. ^ "VW Recruits Exec Linked to Apple Electric Car Project". Automotive News. November 10, 2015.
  69. ^ a b c Love, Julia (October 19, 2015). "Apple's Auto Ambitions Sideswipe Electric Motorcycle Startup". Reuters.
  70. ^ Bergen, Mark. "Apple Hires an Artificial Intelligence Expert from Nvidia. Is He Going to Work on Self-Driving Cars?". Re/code. Archived from the original on October 24, 2015.
  71. ^ "Autonomous Car Development Platform from NVIDIA DRIVE PX2". NVIDIA. Retrieved .
  72. ^ "Ford: 'We Assume Apple Is Working on a Car'". BBC News. Retrieved 2016.
  73. ^ "Porsche LMP1 Technical Director Hitzinger Quits - Ferdinand". Ferdinand Porsche Magazine. 2016-03-15. Retrieved .
  74. ^ Mark Hibben (December 16, 2016). "Apple: Evidence Mounts For A Full Self-Driving Car". Seeking Alpha.

  This article uses material from the Wikipedia page available here. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

SixtyEight_Research
 



 



Popular Products
 
Music Scenes
Popular Artists