Apple Looks into Entering the Car Industry

Apple+announce+they+will+make+a+self-driving+electric+vehicle+by+the+year+2024.

Anthony Abrahantes

Apple announce they will make a self-driving electric vehicle by the year 2024.

Michael Evelyn, Staff Writer

Apple is the largest technological company in the world known, for their advancements in phones and tablets, and is now trying to expand its production to include cars. For over 13 years, Apple was known for their ground-breaking products such as the iPhone and iPad. With the recent spike in popularity of electric cars, Apple is trying to jump into this industry which seems to have great potential.

Since 2015, Apple has reportedly stated that they would produce self driving electric cars by the year 2024 which was known as “Project Titan.” However, this has sparked some concerns for the company seeing that cars are way out of their field of work. If these cars were to be released by the date that Apple gave, some worry that they will not do too well among the public. Volkswagen has openly said that they are not afraid of Apple cars and do not see them as a real threat to the car industry. As a result of these doubts, Apple is currently trying to partner up with other car companies to get these cars out to the public by 2024.

I have always wanted to see what company would make the first self-driving car. If Apple were to pull this off, this could be the start of a new era of cars. I think more companies would be inclined to start making self-driving cars if Apple releases theirs.

— junior Nicholas Calindro

“I would like to see Apple make a car. I am sure it will have an original design and would be fully self driving,” junior Oliver Michel said.

Some companies like Kia and Honda were the most likely candidates for partnering up with Apple. Rumors have spread that Kia had accepted the offer from Apple, but Kia itself has come out and said that these rumors were false. Even if Apple were to partner up with another car company, they would still have trouble funding this large expansion.

According to Business Insider, Apple would need to increase its annual profits by 20 percent to be able to fund this project. If Apple were to pull this off, it could mean trouble for other Electrical Vehicle companies, such as Tesla. While Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, Tesla is still losing money and could be taken over by another company like Apple very easily. This could mean the end of Tesla and the beginning of Apple conquering a new industry.

Elon Musk has made most of his money from the success of Tesla. His company has generated interest among other manufacturers in producing Electric Vehicles. The car industry has always been one of the largest in the world, contributing to over two percent of the U.S. gross domestic product alone, and has room for the most potential for companies to expand their manufacturing size. Major car companies such as Bayerische Motoren Werke and Volkswagen have spread throughout the world and have made billions of dollars. Unlike these companies, Apple has an original car idea by trying to make it self-driving.

Apple could be the start of an even greater shift from normal vehicles to self-driving ones among the public. If they are able to manufacture a car with fully automatic technology that is reliable and safe, other companies would soon follow suit. If all these major companies were to start making their cars self-driving as well, it could mean that traditional cars would become obsolete. Polls have shown that many Americans would be willing to ride in a self-driving vehicle, and some even believe it would be a safer alternative to human-operated vehicles. If Apple were to release this car successfully, it has the potential to lead drivers into a new age of cars.