Apple car on track for 2024 debut with 'next level' batteries

US tech giant Apple is reportedly on track to launch its first passenger car in 2024 using all-new battery technology that is set to radically reduce the cost of EVs.

According to Reuters, the iPhone creator's car-making plans, known as Project Titan, hit the buffers in 2018 when it temporarily abandoned its electric vehicle production program and decided to concentrate on developing software instead.

Redundancies followed, but now Apple has progressed enough that it's back on track and intending to launch a car in 2024.

An insider speaking to the newswire service said Apple's goal is to create a private EV for the mass market – a decision at stark odds with other tech firms like Google's Waymo, which are focusing on a rollout of robotaxis for ride-hail services.

Giving Apple an edge over its rivals and established legacy car-makers is a new battery design that is claimed to 'radically' reduce the costs of production while boosting a vehicle's driving range.

Apple has not publicly commented on the leak.

The only fly in the ointment to Apple's car-building plans is a lack of actual car manufacturing experience, but that is unlikely to stop the Californian-based tech giant.

An insider who worked with Project Titan said Apple will rely on another car manufacturing partner to build its Apple Car.

The same source said Apple could still decide not to produce its car and only supply the car industry with its state-of-the-art autonomous driving aids.

Apple has reportedly created a system that uses multiple lidar sensors that have been developed internally and are believed to be more advanced and accurate than any sensors currently available.

The new batteries, meanwhile, are said to feature a 'monocell' design that eliminates the pouches and modules that other manufacturers rely on.

The design is claimed to allow more active material to be packaged more densely within, giving the car a longer range.

Finally, Apple is developing lithium iron phosphate chemical-based cells that are said to be less likely to overheat than equivalent lithium-ion batteries.

"It's next level," the Apple insider is quoted as saying. “Like the first time you saw the iPhone.”

Heading up the Project Titan electric car program, which began back in 2014, is Doug Field – a former Apple hardware engineer who was rehired from an engineering role at Tesla in 2018.