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Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech
Apple’s foray into electric vehicles has come to a screeching halt, and despite ten years of development and even rumors of more “realistic” goals that were reportedly drawn upon just a month ago, the tech giant is out.
The ditching of “Project Titan,” which Apple called the EV internally, came as a bit of a shock.
Of course, delays, backtracks, and a multitude of other moves that had everyone eager to see what would come out and when kept us all on our toes. A month ago, Apple had reportedly planned to ditch any ideas of a full-self-driving automobile and to get the car to market in 2028.
Now, it’s all history.
The abandonment of Project Titan has drawn a wide array of reactions across the tech sector. Everyone from analysts to content creators to other CEOs has commented on Apple’s withdrawal from what was once considered perhaps the most anticipated entrance into the automotive industry.
The Right Move?
“Apple has canceled its decade-long effort to build an EV,” Dan Ives of Wedbush writes. “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”
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As Bloomberg reported, 2,000 employees were told about the plans to abandon the development of an EV. Many of them are now focusing on generative AI. Ives sees this as the correct pathway, as Apple, being the tech giant that it has been for nearly two decades, can now focus on its bread and butter:
“We believe taking these Project Titan engineers and developers with all efforts on AI could further accelerate Apple’s AI initiatives over the next 12 to 18 months. For Apple, the ultimate goal, in our opinion, is that Vision Pro will work alongside the iPhone and other Apple devices over the coming years, with many consumer AI use cases set to explode across health, fitness, sports content, and autonomous.”
Data Tells the Story
Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley believes Apple cannot put a car out that has a steering wheel, and at the forefront of the company’s presentation, this must be the focus if it were to hypothetically unveil an EV.
According to a note Jonas wrote last night, the data simply is not there. Tesla outpaces Apple in terms of data that would work toward a fully autonomous vehicle. Tesla has around five million active vehicles and accumulates billions of miles of data for real-world driving each year. Apple had 67 cars accumulating roughly 450,000 miles from December 2022 to November 2023.
Based on expert analysis, Apple would not be the first company to get to full autonomy, and the data alone proves that.
CarPlay is Enough ‘Auto’ for Apple
Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, is the biggest tech content creator out there today. His sentiment regarding the Apple EV’s cancelation had to do with software and the fact that it will always have a hand in automotive because most companies are so bad at it that they end up using CarPlay.
My take: Apple has realized they don’t need to make a whole car to control the entire car software experience… car manufacturers are so bad at software that everyone just puts CarPlay on anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/bHB8d2Yd6Y
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) February 27, 2024
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Elon Musk Takes a Smoke Break
Elon Musk only needed two emojis to describe his thoughts regarding Apple’s plans to cancel its EV:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2024
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
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The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to reports that Volvo is officially discontinuing the LiDAR sensor on two of its cars.
Volvo announced that it would officially scrap LiDAR systems on its EX90 and ES90 vehicles in various markets. In Norway, owners will get a €1,800 compensation for features that will never arrive due to this decision. There will be no option to remove the unit from vehicles, either.
The issue stems from Volvo’s supplier, Luminar, and its bankruptcy filing. Luminar will no longer be able to supply LiDAR units to Volvo for the EX90 and ES90, effectively axing any use the unit has on vehicles. Volvo will phase out the data collection processes via the LiDAR system, and it will not be utilized whatsoever.
Musk saw the story on X and responded, stating:
“I did try to warn them. Humans drive using neural nets and optical sensors. Same is true for robot cars.”
I did try to warn them.
Humans drive using neural nets and optical sensors. Same is true for robot cars.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
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Musk has been publicly vocal about his disdain for LiDAR systems, once calling them “a fool’s errand,” as he has consistently kept the outlook that they are not needed for effective self-driving.
The typical example used as evidence for this by Musk is humans themselves: made with only eyes and memories, humans are capable of navigating a car by using what they can see and what they’ve personally experienced on the road.
Elon Musk argues lidar and radar make self driving cars more dangerous
“Same is true for robot cars,” Musk says, as Teslas have eight exterior cameras that help see everything surrounding the vehicle, and a neural network that analyzes behavior and tendencies with every mile driven.
Tesla is a vision-only self-driving company that ditched sensors and radar several years ago in favor of cameras. Behind this effort, the company has established a reputation for having one of the most robust self-driving platforms in the world.
Musk’s big bet with Tesla on its self-driving program’s strategy has widely paid off. Other companies continue to utilize things like LiDAR, radar, and sensors for effective self-driving, but Tesla has shown that there is more than one way to give consumers a strong and accurate driver assistance suite.
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The real question is: who will be the first company to take Musk’s advice and attempt a self-driving platform based on cameras only, or even license FSD for themselves?
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
SpaceX gets an absolutely crazy price target after rough IPO
