Tesla Motors Club

Rivian Brings Total Funding to $8 Billion

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:57:50 GMT

Rivian, which is expected to deliver its debut EV this year, announced it has added $2.65 billion to its war chest. The company has attracted $8 billion in investment since 2019.

The financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and included Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Coatue and D1 Capital Partners, “as well as several other existing and new investors,” Rivian said in a release.

“This is a critical year for us as we are launching the R1T, the R1S and the Amazon commercial delivery vehicles,” Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in a release. “The support and confidence of our investors enables us to remain focused on these launches while simultaneously scaling our business for our next stage of growth.”

Rivian said in November that the Launch Edition of its R1T pickup and R1S sport utility vehicle is sold out. Customers with preorders were given early access to the configurator on November 16. And preorders were strong enough to make the first batch of Rivians unavailable ahead of a general release.

The company said the Launch Edition of R1T pickup will cost $75,000 and the R1S SUV will be priced at $77,500. Both versions will have more than 300 miles of range on a single charge.

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GM Considering All-Electric Corvette SUV

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 19:29:36 GMT

GM is considering building a family of all-electric vehicles with Corvette badging, according to a report from Bloomberg.

According to the report:

GM has designers working on several Corvette-brand concept vehicles that target a wider range of buyers, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plan has not been publicly unveiled. These seek to blend Corvette’s reputation for high-performance driving and rakish styling with creature comforts such as more interior room and storage, the people said. They added that the program is referred to internally as Project R or Brand R.

A Corvette SUV could go on sale as soon as 2025 but probably after that, Bloomberg reported.

Ford may have started a trend when it borrowed the nameplate from the iconic Mustang sports car for its all-electric crossover called the Mustang Mach-E.

Will Corvette fans be accepting of the model expanding into SUVs?

Photo: Chevrolet

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Tesla Releases New Video on Battery Manufacturing

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 19:11:14 GMT

Tesla has released a new video that teases its battery manufacturing efforts in an effort to recruit talent to its cell team.

The video shows mesmerizing shots of Tesla’s battery cells moving through the production process. The music of Don Hinton’s 1960 tune “Honey Bee” accompanies the images, including the lyrics “You gave me a charge and it felt so fine, Shivering up right through my spine.”

Tesla unveiled in September at its Battery Day event a new 4680 battery cell, a larger form factor that would increase range by 16%.

Tesla said the new cells will have a 5x increase in energy and a 6x increase in power capacity. The new cell is 46mm by 80mm, featuring a “tabless” design that enables the efficiencies.

The new YouTube video links out to a page on Tesla’s website advertising jobs.

“At Tesla, we build cars and factories from the ground up,” the webpage says. “Now we do the same for batteries. Join us to solve the next generation of cell engineering, manufacturing, materials, equipment, and operations challenges ahead—all in one vertically-integrated team.”

Check out the video above.

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Apple and Hyundai Considering EV Partnership

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 14:30:22 GMT

A new report says that Apple and Hyundai Motor Co. have agreed to partner on an autonomous all-electric car.

Korea IT News first reported the potential partnership, which would aim to put a vehicle into production by 2024.

Apple has been working on a car project since as early as 2014. Dubbed “Project Titan,” the company explored building its own car from scratch. However, the company reportedly abandoned those efforts to focus on automotive software. In 2018, Apple tapped former Tesla employee Doug Field to manage the project.

Last month rumors of Apple’s efforts to build a car started up again. And, the car is expected to feature a breakthrough battery technology. A Reuters report called the battery tech “next level, like “the first time you saw the iPhone.”

A Reuters article noted that a previous version of the Korea IT article said the companies planned to build the cars at Kia Motors’ factory in Georgia, or invest jointly in a new factory in the U.S. to produce 100,000 vehicles around 2024. “The full annual capacity of the proposed plant would be 400,000 vehicles,” the report said.

Photo: Wikipedia

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Report: Tesla Hiring Design Director in China

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 18:24:14 GMT

Tesla is ramping up its efforts to design and build vehicles specifically for the Chinese market, according to a Reuters report.

The company is currently looking to hire a director in China to lead a “full-function” studio in Shanghai or Beijing. Candidates have been interviewed by Tesla’s global design chief Franz von Holzhausen, according to Reuters sources.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Twitter in September that the company plans to build two newly-designed vehicles to be produced at the company’s Berlin and Shanghai factories

Both will do original cars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2020

The comment came shortly after Musk told investors at Battery Day that the company intends to build a new vehicle with a $25,000 price tag. Reuters spoke to two sources that said one vehicle to be considered by the design studio will be a “China-specific” model will be a “lower-cost volume generator such as a $25,000 electric car.”

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Tesla Introduces Lower-Price Model Y

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 19:22:40 GMT

Tesla is now offering a cheaper version of the Model Y crossover priced at $43,190. The price comes in as $4,000 more than the base Model 3.

The new variant will offer an estimated 244 miles of range, about 100 miles less than the Long Range version. The Standard Range Model Y will also feature a single motor and rear-wheel drive.

Consumers will have to spend an additional $8,000 for the next step up in the lineup, a dual-motor Long Range variant with a price of $51,190. The Performance version starts at $61,190 including destination.

Tesla says the Standard Range variant will do 0-to-60 mph in 5.3 seconds versus 4.8 seconds for the Long Range and 3.5 seconds for the Performance versions.

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Elon Musk Becomes Richest Person in the World

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 21:48:17 GMT

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is now the richest person in the world.

With a net worth of more than $185 billion, Musk has bested Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who has a worth of about $184 billion. It’s been a brave journey for Musk, who was willing to wager his own $180 million proceeds from the sale of PayPal to found Tesla and SpaceX.

It’s been a tremendous year for Musk’s fortune with the incredible performance of Tesla’s stock. He started 2020 worth about $27 billion. Tesla’s stock had a 9x increase over the past year.

Musk recently pinned a 2018 tweet to his Twitter profile that outlines his plans to use his wealth.

“About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves,” Musk said.

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SpaceX Plans First Launch of 2021 This Week

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 18:00:09 GMT

SpaceX has announced its first launch of 2021 is on track for Thursday, January 7th.

The mission is being conducted by Turksat, a state-supported satellite operator in Turkey. The mission was originally scheduled for January 4th.

The Falcon 9 being flown in the mission will be making its fourth flight in just six months, the first to rack up that many missions in such a short timeframe. The weather could be an issue for SpaceX’s first launch of the year, but the company has lift off scheduled for 8:28 pm ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX is targeting four launches in January and a total of 48 launches in 2021.

Image: SpaceX

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Watch: Model 3 Makes Six-Hour Drive Using FSD

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 17:45:44 GMT

A Tesla owner has posted a video that shows his Tesla Model 3 making a six-hour drive without any human intervention.

YouTuber Whole Mars Catalog shared the video of his Full Self Driving-equipped Model 3 traveling from SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles to Silicon Valley.

The owner says the only human interaction with the car took place during charging. Otherwise, Autopilot handled the steering, accelerating, and braking on the 358-mile journey.

According to Tesla’s October release notes for the option:

“When Full Self-Driving is enabled your vehicle will make lane changes off highway, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns. Use Full Self-Driving in limited Beta only if you will pay constant attention to the road, and be prepared to act immediately, especially around blind corners, crossings, intersections and in narrow driving situations.”

The FSD option currently costs $10,000 and Tesla intends to roll out a monthly subscription service next year.

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Shanghai-Built Model 3 Shipping With Updated Interior

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 17:02:16 GMT

The Shanghai-built Tesla Model 3 has been updated with features including a heated steering wheel.

Tesla’s configurator for orders in China now lists the heated wheel feature as part of a premium interior option for the Model 3 Performance. It’s a feature that many Tesla owners have been asking for and it’s expected the automaker will soon make the feature available as an upgrade for all owners with capable cars.

The Model 3 built in China has also received small interior design updates, such as a new accent on the door panel, as is also the case in new Model Y vehicles produced in China.

Tesla rolled out a small refresh to the Model 3 in October, which included a new center console, new wheels, and additional range.

Image: Tesla China

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Tesla Hits Production Goal of 500,000 Units

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 18:41:07 GMT

Tesla says it met its 2020 production and delivery goal of 500,000 vehicles.

The company released its Q4 2020 and 2020 annual production and delivery figures, which showed 509,737 vehicles produced and 499,550 delivered on the year.

“Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct,” Tesla said in a release. “Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5% or more.”

The Model 3 and Model Y made up the bulk of Tesla’s sales and deliveries. The two vehicles accounted for 161,650 deliveries in Q4 and 442,511 for the year.

The Model S and Model X continue to make up a smaller percentage of Tesla’s total sales. The company delivered 57,039 units of its flagship vehicles in 2020.

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Tesla Staffing for Semi Production

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 16:19:06 GMT

With the Tesla Semi slated for delivery in 2021, Tesla has started building out a production team.

The company has posted a number of positions inside the Nevada Gigafactory that are specific to the Semi program. The company is currently advertising for a Process Engineer and Process Technician.

Tesla is expected to build the Semi’s battery and powertrain in Nevada, while the rest of the Semi build will take place at the company’s upcoming Giga Texas in Austin.

Tesla unveiled the Semi in 2017 and immediately started racking up orders from companies with large trucking fleets. The Semi will reportedly come with two range options (300 miles and 500 miles) priced at $150,000 and $180,000 respectively.

Tesla watchers have reported that Tesla intends to use its homegrown higher density battery packs for the project.

Scoop.
There are 4 Tesla semis being built at GFNV. They will use the new higher density 2170 L cells from GFNV, not the 4680s. There will be three packs in a row, each half as long as a Model S. There will be 2 for road testing, 1 for durability testing, and 1 for Alaska…
— Carsonight (@carsonight) December 27, 2020

The automaker has reportedly secured thousands of orders for the Semi. Many companies with giant fleets of heavy-duty trucks are waiting on a delivery, including Walmart, UPS, PepsiCo, FedEx, and Anheuser-Busch, among others.

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Tesla Offers FSD Trial in End-of-Year Sales Push

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 20:07:09 GMT

Tesla has an extremely limited special offer for customers ordering before midnight December 31 – three free months of the Full Self Driving option.

Tesla Chief Executive tweeted about the offer Tuesday.

All Tesla cars delivered in the final three days of the year will get three months of the Full Self-Driving option for free. Delivery & docs must be fully complete by midnight Dec 31st.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 29, 2020

The FSD option currently costs $10,000 and Tesla intends to roll out a monthly subscription service next year. The new offer may give owners a chance to trial the sophisticated self-driving tech before selecting the pricey option.

According to Tesla’s October release notes for the option:

Musk has said that an investment in the FSD option could eventually make owners money by joining a robotaxi fleet. There’s no set timeline for that service, but Tesla continues to make advances with its vehicles’ self-driving capabilities.

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Telsa Secures New Lithium Supply Deal

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 17:52:23 GMT

Tesla’s battery supply is getting a bump from a new five-year partnership with China’s Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group Co.

Sichuan Yahua, a wholly-owned subsidiary Yaan Lithium, announced the deal Tuesday. Reuters reported a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing that showed the company put the total value of the contract at $630-$880 million over 2021-25.

Tesla started production at Giga Shanghai about a year ago. The company is ramping up production of the Model 3 and Model Y at Giga Shanghai, eventually scaling to 500,000. As Tesla’s production numbers rise, so does the need for lithium, an important ingredient in Tesla’s battery design.

Tesla is reportedly looking for suppliers around the world and will likely start facing more competition for lithium supply, as more automakers begin to electrify their fleets.

Sichuan Yahua is a partner in the midst of growth. The company doubled its lithium hydroxide plant’s capacity to 20,000 tons per year in 2020.

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Tesla’s Success Is The Inspiration For Most, If Not All, EV Startups

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 20:07:19 GMT

When a company’s valuation exceeds half-a-trillion dollars and surpasses legacy automakers, you can kind of understand why.

Tesla is single-handedly responsible for accelerating the shift from fuel-burning vehicles with tailpipe emissions to cleaner battery-electric vehicles. The shift would have happened without Tesla, but it would arguably have taken a lot longer to even reach the point where we are today, with legacy manufacturers frantically trying to figure out ways of catching up to and dethroning Tesla and its vehicles that hit sixty in under 3 seconds and can travel 400 miles on one charge.

And while said established automakers are closing the gap in terms of the performance and range of their mass market electric vehicles, they are also burdened and slowed down specifically by tradition and the way they had been doing business selling ICE vehicles for decades. Basically, the bigger they are, the more cumbersome they are when it comes to how quickly they are able to adapt to new market conditions and change the way they do business.

Tesla itself proved that in less than 20 years, a brand new player can establish itself in the automotive industry (known as being one of if not the hardest industries for any company to tap into). This was achieved in part by the quality of the engineering behind Tesla vehicles, as well as the undeniable (often unorthodox) marketing skills possessed by its founder and CEO, Elon Musk, plus some vital help from the US government.

So maybe for a company to really challenge Tesla in a way the establishment just isn’t able to at the moment, it needs to have a similar genesis and a similar strategy. In other words, it needs to be a startup conceived from the onset as a manufacturer of electric vehicles.

Nowadays there are literally hundreds of fledgling companies that are trying to get you to pre-order some sort of electric vehicle. Some are far closer to actually delivering a finished product, but what they all have in common is the fact that they were undeniably inspired by Tesla’s success story.

So can any other company at least come close to replicating it? Well, since Tesla has already done a lot to make the world more accepting of BEVs, it theoretically would be easier today than it was eight years ago when the Model S (Tesla’s first series model) was hitting the scene. It was so good at the time that Volkswagen wanted to buy up Tesla in 2013, but talks on this matter never got serious.One of the most famous cases of a startup that tried to challenge Tesla is Nikola. If there was

ever a company that was overtly inspired by the Tesla story, then that’s Nikola (whose name is actually Nikola Tesla’s first name). It had announced plans to release a challenger for the Tesla Cybertruck, as well as the Semi, but things have recently been quite rocky for the startup; it has been forced to kill of its Badger pickup project.

Many of the most promising startups originate in the United States and include Rivian, Lucid, Bollinger, Lordstown Motors, Fisker, Karma, Canoo and Aptera. China is arguably an even more fertile ground for electric car startups and it’s from the People’s Republic that we have some of the most Tesla-like vehicles (that are already on the market or ones that will be launched soon).

Of the Chinese startups, we must mention NIO, WM Motor, XPeng, Faraday Future, although there are many more (some of which we probably don’t even know about yet). Perhaps we could also include Polestar in this list, Volvo’s performance-oriented electric car brand spinoff that is also based in China.

Europe is not devoid of EV startups, but they are not quite as common or advanced as ones America and China. We must mention Rimac, the Croatian EV specialist and tech company that not only builds electric hypercars, but it also sells its EV tech to other manufacturers. We also have Sono Motors in Germany and Lightyear in the Netherlands, but there are dozens more whose names have not made the news as much.

We’ll have to see how all these startups fare in 2021, a year when the automotive establishment will be launching a series of very attractive electric cars that will come even closer to matching Tesla. Will launching an EV-focused startup still be as tempting a proposition once the legacy manufacturers with their unrivaled R&D and manufacturing power finally match and even surpass Tesla over the next few years? We’ll have to wait and see, but we are certainly entering very interesting times.

Automotive News quotes Brian Gu, the vice chairman and president of XPeng as saying

‘ We have been talking about our goals of penetration and growth for the past five years. Yet we hadn’t seen the real explosion until this year. There’s an increased confidence in the industry’s long-term growth. ‘

Regarding whether or not it is better to already have an established manufacturer behind you when starting on the journey to launch an EV, the source quotes Christina Woon, a Singapore-based investment manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, who said

‘ I would not underestimate traditional OEMs in this area. Having an existing business that’s profitable and that has cash flows that you can use to invest in a new or emerging business — that does help to balance out that risk. ‘

Source: Automotive News

This article originally appeared on Inside EVs.

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VW’s Ferdinand Piëch Wanted To Buy Tesla In 2013 After Test Drive

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 19:59:35 GMT

The offer was turned down by Elon Musk and talks never ended up being serious.

Not long after we found out Tesla was willing to sell out to Apple for $60-billion in 2018, but the tech company’s CEO, Tim Cook, didn’t even want to meet with Elon Musk to discuss it, we have an even older tale to tell. Apparently, back in 2013, Volkswagen’s then head of the board, Ferdinand Piëch, was so impressed after he took a Tesla Model S for a test drive that he immediately wanted to buy the company.

According to Manager Magazin, Piëch got a reluctant Martin Winterkorn (VW’s CEO at the time, currently a fugitive of justice in the United States after Dieselgate), as well as Ulrich Hackenberg (Head of Development until he was also forced to leave due to the same scandal) on board with trying to buy Tesla, but when they reached out to Elon Musk, he reportedly turned them down flat.

Back in 2013, Tesla was around 10 years old and just starting out with its first mass market electric vehicle – at that time, the game-changing Model S had only been on sale for roughly a year and it was way more advanced than any other electric vehicle on the market at the time. Legacy automakers have since closed the gap and we’ve gotten used to Tesla’s lead in the segment, but back then, the California-based startup was raising a lot of eyebrows.

Source: Manager Magazin via Business Insider Deutschland

This article originally appeared on Inside EVs.

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Tesla Coming to India Next Year

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 16:42:23 GMT

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk confirmed Sunday that Tesla will will be offered to the Indian market next year. Meanwhile, a new report says Tesla intends to manufacture vehicles in India.

Reuters cited local newspapers Indian Express and the Economic Times both reporting that Tesla plans to bring the Model 3 to the country.

No, but definitely this year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 27, 2020

Indian Express reported that if demand for the Model 3 is strong, Tesla is considering a local production facility. A factory in India would expand Tesla’s efforts in Asia, as the company has a factory in Shanghai that will scale to an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles. Tesla is also building factories in Berlin and Austin, Texas.

While India is a large country, it will be interesting to see if Tesla can find a strong market for a car that will likely cost nearly $75,000 at current exchange rates.

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Watch: SpaceX Shows Off Starship Test Flight

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 15:00:01 GMT

SpaceX has released a high-quality video of the SN8 Starship high-altitude launch.

The video offers an incredible look at the 12-story-tall spacecraft executing a controlled fall and landing flip maneuver.

The Dec. 9 test was the first time that Starship flew with three Raptor engines. The company previously flew prototypes that reached about 150 meters before a successful landing. The most recent high-altitude test pushed Starship to about 12,00 meters. SpaceX says the final version of Starship will be powered by six Raptor engines.

The Starship project is significant for SpaceX, as it’s the vehicle that the company plans to haul humans into space and make the long trek to Mars and the moon. Musk has said that Starship could carry as many as 100 people into space.

SpaceX is already readying the SN9 test vehicle at its Boca Chica, Texas facility, signaling that another test is coming soon.

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Elon Musk Confirms Tesla Full Self-Driving Subscriptions Coming Early 2021

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 16:48:46 GMT

You will also be able to buy FSD outright, and it seems Tesla would prefer you did that instead of paying a monthly subscription fee.

If you’ve been watching all the videos that we’ve posted showing the adventures of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta program and you want to try it out for yourself, just have a bit more patience, as you will soon be able to. According to a tweet Elon Musk posted recently, FSD will be made available through a subscription model starting in early 2021, even though it was initially expected to make its public debut before the end of 2020.

So it’s been pushed back a few months, but then again, this isn’t the kind of service that a manufacturer could offer in an unfinished, buggy state. This delay does mean Tesla still has testing and bug fixing to do, and based on what we’ve seen in some videos, that’s definitely the case, although FSD is already undeniably pretty impressive, even if it seems like it’s still far from foolproof.

And while Elon Musk did confirm FSD would be available through a monthly subscription model, he seems to prefer it if you buy it outright (for $10,000) as a permanent option on your vehicle (that has HW 3.0). His exacts words were

‘ I should say, it will still make sense to buy FSD as an option as in our view, buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer — to the benefit of the consumer. In my opinion, buying FSD option is something people will not regret doing. ‘

Pricing for the monthly subscription has not been announced yet (don’t expect it to be cheap), but it will surely work out to a lot less for those leasing their vehicle or looking to sell it soon. The subscription model also makes sense as a means for people to test out FSD before they commit to paying the full asking price to have it permanently enabled.

This article originally appeared on Inside EVs.

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When Elon Musk Wanted to Sell Tesla, Apple’s Tim Cook Refused the Meeting

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 13:57:24 GMT

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tuesday that during the “darkest days” of Model 3 production, he reached out to Apple about a possible sale.

Musk said Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook “refused” to take a meeting.

Musk offered the story in response to reports that the iPhone maker is seriously pursuing an all-electric passenger car. He pointed out that Tesla could have been acquired for one-tenth of its current value.

During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020

Musk previously said that Tesla was “single-digit weeks” away from failure when the company was trying to get a handle on Model 3 “production hell.” It’s interesting to learn that Musk so feared the company’s collapse that he reached out to a potential acquirer.

Obviously, Tesla corrected its path. Model 3 production is now humming and the company has since added a new vehicle with the Model Y. And, they’re confident enough with production that the company has three more vehicles in line.

Apple has been working on a car project since at least 2014. Dubbed “Project Titan,” the company explored building its own car from scratch. However, the company reportedly abandoned those efforts to focus on automotive software. In 2018, Apple tapped former Tesla employee Doug Field to manage the project and seems to have progressed far enough to excite the company about an actual car again.

Reuters reported this week that Apple hopes to bring a car to market by 2024. In addition to self-driving capabilities, the car is said to pack a “breakthrough battery technology.”

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