Reports that Apple's car was a minivan, possibly with gullwing doors.
Talk of Apple unveiling its own battery-powered car with advanced self-driving capabilities dates back to 2014. Commonly referred to as Project Titan, the car remained shrouded in secrecy for the most part, as automotive patent filings and the hiring of experts from the auto industry fueled rumors for years.
Project Titan appears to have finally come to an end, with Bloomberg reporting the project's cancellation late last month. Furthermore, The New York Times simultaneously reported that Apple had spent more than $10 billion on the ill-fated project.
In a follow-up report published this week, Bloomberg detailed some of the designs Apple had for the car. According to the publication's sources, the primary design resembles a van from EV startup Canoo, known as the Lifestyle Vehicle (main photo).
The design features an identical front and rear end like Canoo's and was reportedly called Bread Loaf by insiders. The alternative design was reportedly a more orthodox styled van, similar to a concept Volkswagen rolled out in 2017 to preview its 2025 electric van, the ID.Buzz. It also had gimmicks like gullwing-style doors, according to Bloomberg's sources.
The design was constantly evolving, especially the four-passenger interior. The front seats were designed to face backward to create a lounge-like experience. According to Bloomberg, the original interior lacked a steering wheel and pedals because Apple wanted to offer true fully automated driving capabilities. However, these became necessary for later designs after Apple gave up on designing self-driving cars.
In addition to the technical challenges, the cold reality of how difficult it is to build and sell cars, as Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda warned Apple in 2021, according to Bloomberg, Project Titan has been hampered by indecision about the direction the project should go and It was also held back by disagreements.
In 2019, Dyson, the consumer electronics giant known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, also abandoned its own car launch, even though the project had reached the late stages of development. Several companies in the field of self-driving technology have also been born and disappeared while Apple was developing its car, including Argo AI and Uber Advanced Technology Group.