Reports have surfaced for a decade saying Apple is working on producing an electric vehicle, likely a self-driving car, even as Apple has remained mum, officially, on any specifics on the topic.
The reportage on an Apple car picked up again recently with Apple’s hiring of longtime Ford engineer Desi Ujkashevic to join the Apple Car team. At Ford, her roles included auto safety engineering and she helped develop the Ford Escape Explorer, Fiesta and Focus with work on EVs.
A complete recap of Apple’s long history of creating a car was recently regurgitated by MacRumors noting hundreds of Apple employees are working on developing a self-driving Apple-branded car for consumers.
At one point, Apple supplier and iPhone assembler Foxconn was seen as a potential partner in the car project.
It is noteworthy that Foxconn reported first quarter results on Thursday showing revenues rose 4% over a year ago while net profit grew 5%. Even so, Foxconn, based in Taiwan, projected its current quarter revenue for electronics including smartphones could slip due to inflation, cooling demand and Covid lockdowns in China.
In a report, Reuters noted that the revenue forecast may result in Foxconn’s efforts to diversify into EV manufacturing.
Foxconn will also develop new vehicles with U.S. EV maker Lordstown Motors. Foxconn recently announced it had completed a deal to buy a factory in Ohio from Lordstown for $230 million. Foxconn, which is formally named Hon Hai, “will leverage Lordstown team’s automaking experience and bring the electric truck ‘Endurance’ into mass production,“ the company said.
Shortly after, Foxconn said it will build the Fisker five-seat Fisker PEAR at the Ohio facility. PEAR is expected to go into production in 2024 and cost less than $30,000.
Whether Foxconn eventually works with Apple on a car is unclear. Also some departures of engineers from the Apple car project before the hiring of Ujkashevic raised questions about the project’s future. Some reports say Apple is still on track to launch a self-driving vehicle as soon as 2025, but some analysts feel it might take several years longer.
Whatever the timing, there is already intense interest from electronics components makers in the project. An older report from 2019 indicated Apple had talked with at least four lidar suppliers about a revolutionary lidar design that was less expensive. There has also been speculation an Apple car would be compatible with Combined Charging System to allow Apple car owners to use charging stations already available.
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