Apple will stop trying to create electric vehicles: Report

(NewsNation) — Apple Inc. is canceling efforts to build an electric car ten years after it first took on the project, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

A source confirmed these plans to Reuters as well.

Project Titan, as Apple called its attempts to create an electric car, started in 2014, but saw a number of speedbumps. At one point, the company pulled back on the effort to focus on software and reassess its goals, Reuters wrote.

In 2019, 190 people were laid off from the EV team, but Project Titan still moved forward. Reuters previously said Apple was targeting a vehicle release in 2024 or 2025.

However, Bloomberg writes the project will begin winding down and many employees currently on the car team will be shifted to Apple’s artificial intelligence division, where they will focus on “generative AI projects.” While the publication wrote that layoffs are expected, it’s currently unclear how many people will lose their jobs.

About 2,000 employees had been working on an electric vehicle for Apple.

NewsNation has reached out to Apple for comment. The company has not publicly announced the move, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk quote-tweeted a post Tuesday sharing the Bloomberg story with a saluting and cigarette emoji. Investors were also happy, according to Bloomberg: Apple shares stared “climbing” after the publication shared the news, with stock up about 1% following an earlier decline.

Several automakers have been scaling back their EV production, including General Motors and Ford. Tesla earlier this year warned of notably lower growth forecasts in 2024, the Wall Street Journal wrote.

High interest rates, meant to quell inflation, have slowed consumer demand for electric vehicles, leading to those in the industry cutting jobs and reducing production.

Reuters and NewsNation’s Tyler Wornell contributed to this story.