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Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech

Credit: @alldarkmood/Instagram

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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.

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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.

Apple ditches ‘Project Titan’ electric car: report

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.”

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:

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“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.

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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.

Elon Musk Takes a Smoke Break

Elon Musk only needed two emojis to describe his thoughts regarding Apple’s plans to cancel its EV:

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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.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla ships new feature that silences neighborhood Supercharger complaints

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is shipping a new feature that silences neighborhood Supercharger complaints, prompting drivers to be aware of those who might be impacted by excessive noise nearby.

Tesla is now rolling out a new location-specific “Quiet Charging Zone” that prompts drivers to lower their vehicle’s audio volume in an effort to make things comfortable for everyone, even those who are not Tesla owners.

This is an impactful feature that will resolve many complaints from those who are living nearby.

When a Tesla plugs into this Supercharger and its media volume exceeds a certain level, the vehicle’s central touchscreen displays a polite notification: “Could you turn the volume down? Please be mindful of our neighbors.”

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Accompanying the message is a prominent “Lower” button. One tap automatically reduces the audio to a more considerate level. Physical “Quiet Charging Zone” signs posted at the station reinforce the request, creating a cohesive experience that blends digital nudges with on-site reminders.

This feature highlights Tesla’s unique advantages. Unlike traditional automakers, Tesla owns both the vehicle software and the charging infrastructure.

Engineers can detect the precise location via GPS, trigger context-aware prompts, and deploy changes fleet-wide in hours or days without recalls or dealer visits. No public release notes highlighted the change, suggesting it was a quiet, site-specific rollout designed to test effectiveness before potential expansion.

These are usually referred to as “Undocumented Changes.”

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Beyond immediate noise reduction, the initiative underscores Tesla’s customer- and community-focused ethos. While EVs are inherently quieter than combustion-engine vehicles, auxiliary behaviors like loud infotainment can still create friction in dense cities. Tesla’s rapid response turns potential conflict into an opportunity to demonstrate thoughtful engineering.

As Tesla expands its Supercharger network, which is now open to other EVs in many places, features like location-based quiet modes could become standard tools for harmonious integration into neighborhoods.

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Ferrari unveils its Luce EV, and its reception has been a disaster

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Credit: Ferrari

Ferrari unveiled its Luce EV over the weekend, and so far, its reception has been an absolute disaster, gathering negative reactions from a wide variety of people, including former executives.

The stock even took a hit on its first day of trading following the unveiling, dropping over 7 percent at one point.

Ferrari moving to EVs from its traditional V12s and mid-engine sports cars is a massive move. It was designed by Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newsom’s LoveFrom studio, which is known for design work for tech giant Apple. “Luce” means “light” in Italian, so Ferrari drew inspiration for its name from its sleek design, characterized by a smooth, sculpted body with rounded edges.

But its reception has been far from what Ferrari expected. The overall design has drawn some harsh criticism since its reveal, and it is simply stunning that such a storied company, with a rich history of beautiful, powerful cars has revealed a design that many are not a fan of.

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Responses to the design were widely negative, with some saying, “Enzo is rolling in his grave,” and “This looks like a Nissan LEAF with a bad body kit.”

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Former Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said:

“If I said what I really think, I’d harm Ferrari. We’re risking the destruction of a myth, I’m very sorry about that. I hope they at least remove the Prancing Horse from that car.”

Ferrari has scaled back EV commitments in the past, primarily in response to weaker-than-expected demand for its electric powertrains.

Priced at roughly $640,000 in the U.S., it is tough to see how this car will ever truly live up to the massive expectations many had for it. It almost feels like, to a certain extent, Ferrari is looking for a way to get out of building EVs.

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Tesla unveils juicy new detail on the Roadster and hints at new unveil timeline

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A red Tesla Roadster driving around a turn
(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla unveiled a juicy new detail on the Roadster, its long-delayed supercar project, and additionally hinted at a new unveiling timeline, as it appears yet another month will pass without seeing the capabilities of the vehicle.

Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla, Lars Moravy, revealed on the Ride the Lightning podcast that the Roadster will be built at Gigafactory Texas, adding that “you’ll start to see a lot of things unfold in the next months.”

While we get a good detail on the plant of manufacture, we also get another letdown, as it appears the unveiling event will not take place in May, as CEO Elon Musk hinted during the Earnings Call.

The Roadster was first unveiled back in 2017, alongside the Semi, which entered production earlier this year. It was Tesla’s attempt at a true supercar; it would be rare, expensive, and lightning quick, among other incredible capabilities, like potentially hovering for a short period thanks to a collaboration project with SpaceX.

However, the vehicle was set to be delivered in 2020. Parts and supply chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic started these delays, and since then, Tesla, and specifically Musk, have wanted to push the capabilities of the Roadster to somewhere the human mind may not be able to currently comprehend.

Both Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Moravy have said many things about the Roadster over the past few years, hinting that the car truly could be worth the wait. However, the continuous delays we’ve seen have undoubtedly been discouraging.

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With that being said, it’s not like Tesla has been doing nothing. Instead, the company has been focusing on revamping current models, phasing out others, and working on developing the cars of the future, specifically, the Cybercab, which entered production at Giga Texas in April.

Despite the Roadster’s delays, there is still a ton of anticipation for the vehicle to be released. It will have a steering wheel, as Musk said it will be “the best of the last of the human-driven cars.”

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