Just before the Christmas holidays, Apple said it would delay its ambitious project for at least three more years.
The company had previously said it would build its first fully autonomous electric vehicle from scratch as part of the Titan project. But the driverless car launch has been pushed back because building a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals isn’t feasible with current technology.
Bloomberg reports the project had been in limbo for months until engineers concluded a less ambitious design was necessary. The revised plan adds a steering wheel and pedals. The new model will show fully autonomous driving only on highways.
In other words, Apple will build a car that gives drivers more flexibility. In autonomous mode, occupants can watch movies, read, or play games. The car will also alert them when to switch to manual control—for example, in tricky city traffic or sudden bad weather.
Rumors that Apple was building a self-driving car have kept competitors on edge for years, but concrete timing for the Titan project has been scarce.
In 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that several hundred Apple employees were secretly working on a fully autonomous electric vehicle. In 2016, reports surfaced of layoffs affecting members of Apple’s automotive team.
Fantasies about Titan
Meanwhile, designers at British leasing company Vanarama, intrigued by the secretive project, unveiled their vision of a driverless “Apple” electric car. To create a 3D visualization, Vanarama’s designers studied numerous Apple patents.
The designers seem to have taken inspiration from the Tesla Cybertruck—especially the idea of a single solid glass roof that acts as windows, a sunroof, and a windshield.
In the visualization, the Apple car has retractable door handles and adaptive double doors to ease boarding. The bumper grille echoes a detail from the Mac Pro. That grille is practical—electric vehicles don’t need the same airflow as internal combustion cars.
The cabin has a large touchscreen infotainment display that spans the front panel. The steering wheel includes a smart screen with driver cues and Siri. The concept even shows three pedals—a nod to a manual transmission, though the model wouldn’t actually have one.
The front seats can rotate 180 degrees, highlighting the car’s autonomous focus. Vanarama’s Titan has no soft upholstery or carpets, making the interior austere, Designboom reported.
Vanarama’s design, the creators say, was developed without knowledge of Titan’s true form—Apple’s patents didn’t reveal it. So it’s a fanciful take on what an Apple electric car might look like.
Apple declined to comment on the visualization.
