Apple's car-making: A lot of mystery caused by "a radar"

Apple’s car project has always been mysterious and low-key.

As is known in the industry, the name of the project exposed by Apple is Project Titan, also known as Special Projects Group (SPG). Since its establishment, the project has been moving forward amid constant doubts.

From the outside, it seems that Apple's ambition in the automotive industry has shifted from vehicle manufacturing to focusing on the research and development of autonomous driving related software. But is this really the case?

Recently, foreign media quoted three people familiar with the matter as saying that Apple is negotiating with at least four companies, hoping to find the next generation of LiDAR (laser radar) sensors for self-driving cars that are smaller, cheaper and easier to mass-produce than the current ones. In addition, people familiar with the matter also said that Apple may be developing LiDAR sensors independently.

Although the people familiar with the matter did not disclose the name of the company Apple contacted and Apple did not comment on it, the move shows that Apple wants to control the "perception stack" of sensors, computers and software in order to become a leader in the self-driving car industry, even if the car is not built by itself.

But on another level, Apple is not satisfied with being just a supplier.

Earlier this month, Apple poached an electric drive expert from Tesla named Michael Schwekutsch, who was responsible for the development of drive systems and battery packs at Tesla, a position equivalent to the vice president level.

In addition, in August last year, a Chinese supplier of Tesla revealed that "Apple may soon launch new energy vehicles. The prototype should have come out now, and small batches of samples will be delivered at the end of this month. But it is confidential and even internal directors cannot see it."

Based on this, in Cheyun's view, Apple's automotive project can be said to be a two-step process:

First, the research and development of autonomous driving systems and related software and hardware;

The second is the development of new energy vehicles.

Although Apple has revealed that it hopes to become an autonomous driving software supplier in the future, its ultimate goal is to manufacture new energy vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities.

Apple's change of direction for autonomous driving

When Apple first entered the automotive industry, its goal was to create a car product that could revolutionize the era like the iPhone. However, what Apple faced was an indisputable fact.

At that time, Apple was facing three main difficulties:

The first and most important one is the difference in development strategy. In an article published by Cheyunjun titled "Apple's car manufacturing will not fall | In-depth", it is mentioned that the team led by Steve Zadesky, the former head of Apple's car project, hopes that the Titan project will develop a car product with semi-autonomous driving functions, while the team led by its chief design officer Jonathan Ive is trying hard to build a fully autonomous driving platform. One wants to manufacture the whole car, and the other focuses on the software platform, and the differences are getting bigger and bigger.

The second reason is the frequent changes in leadership. It is reported that Apple's top executives are all "experts" from different top companies, with impressive performance and extraordinary reputation in the past. Due to differences in development strategies, it is natural for these top executives to go their separate ways.

Finally, there is the issue of supply chain. Although Apple has extensive influence in the mobile phone industry and often obtains certain parts from suppliers exclusively, due to the particularity of the automotive industry, as a newcomer, suppliers are not very willing to provide parts to Apple. In addition, Apple has also sought to establish partnerships with automakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, McLaren, Magna Steyr, and BYD, but to no avail.

Various practical problems have forced Apple to change its strategic direction.

In mid-2016, in order to resolve the above differences, Apple recruited former senior Apple executive Bob Mansfield to take charge of the Titan project.

After Bob Mansfield took over the project, he began to reduce the project team and refocus on developing software and supporting solutions. In other words, Apple adjusted its R&D direction, temporarily abandoning vehicle manufacturing and turning to software development. In June 2017, Cook admitted for the first time in an interview that Apple was developing its own autonomous driving system.

However, although Apple turned to developing software systems, it did not give up hardware manufacturing.

As mentioned earlier, people familiar with the matter said that Apple is actively contacting external suppliers to find the next generation of LiDAR sensors.

It is understood that the current entire lidar system, including the Velodyne lidar system installed in Apple's fleet of self-driving cars, uses laser pulses to obtain accurate images of the vehicle's surrounding environment.

However, the system costs about $100,000 (about 670,000 yuan), and the use of mechanical parts to allow the laser scanner to scan the road makes such systems too large to be used in mass-produced cars.

The lidars that Apple needs may be manufactured using traditional semiconductor manufacturing technology. At the same time, due to mass production, the prices of these lidars may drop to hundreds of dollars.

In addition, Apple also wants these sensors to be able to see 400 meters ahead. In this regard, people familiar with the matter said that the long-distance requirement shows that Apple is interested in fully autonomous vehicles rather than more limited functions such as adaptive cruise control currently used.

Additionally, another person familiar with the matter said Apple is looking for a "design-centric" sensor that would be light and unobtrusive enough to blend into the overall lines of a car.

In addition to seeking external suppliers, Apple may also be developing its own LiDAR sensors, similar to the approach taken by Waymo, a self-driving car company under Google parent company Alphabet, which assembles sensors and computer systems while purchasing Fiat Chrysler vehicles.

It’s clear from Apple’s interest in cheap LiDAR sensors that it wants to control the “perception stack” of sensors, computers and software that drives self-driving cars, no matter who makes them, the people said.

At the same time, people familiar with the matter also said that Apple may have joined the ranks of automakers and investors in finding winning sensor technology.

Apple's road to electric cars

Autonomous driving is undoubtedly the focus of Apple's car project. However, Apple's layout in car electrification is no less than that related to autonomous driving.

In 2014, Apple CEO Cook approved the establishment of the Titan project. In 2015, Apple had already begun to lay out electric vehicles.

First, Apple is poaching talents from other companies in the field of electric vehicles.

For example, in 2015, A123 Systems, a US battery manufacturer, sued Apple for poaching its employees. In addition, Apple also poached battery technology experts from Samsung and hired six employees from electric motorcycle startup Ission Motors, which led to the company's bankruptcy.

In early April this year, Apple poached another Tesla electric car expert, Michael Schwekutsch. It is understood that before joining Tesla, he was responsible for the electric and hybrid system projects of BMW i8, Porsche 918 Spyder, Fiat 500eV, Volvo XC90 and other popular vehicles.

After joining Tesla, Michael Schwekutsch was responsible for the design, manufacture and verification of drive units, and participated in the power systems of Tesla Roadster 2 and Tesla Semi. In his more than 20 years of powertrain work experience, the last 10 years have been related to electric power systems, and he has very rich experience.

Before Michael Schwekutsch joined Apple, Apple also poached John Irenland, a former senior powertrain test engineer at Tesla.

The second is reflected in product research and development.

In August 2016, it was reported that Apple had signed a confidentiality agreement with a South Korean battery company to focus on the research and development of power batteries. The cylindrical lithium-ion battery developed by the company uses patented hollow core technology, with a hollow size of 2 inches (about 5cm) and can be connected in series or parallel without welding.

In 2017, there was news that Apple and CATL were cooperating in the field of power batteries. The constant news about power batteries is also one of the reasons why the outside world speculated that Apple was making cars.

Whether it is the drive system or the battery technology, they are both core technologies for manufacturing new energy vehicles. Based on the current information, Apple's investment in these two areas has given it core competitiveness in these two fields, and also provided the necessary conditions for Apple to build cars.

Apple's ultimate goal

If Apple's ultimate goal is just to become a supplier of autonomous driving software and hardware, then why would it invest so much time and money in electric vehicles, even though it has already achieved certain results in this area?

At present, there is a saying in the industry that compared with fuel vehicles, electric vehicles will be the best carrier of future autonomous driving technology. According to industry insiders, compared with traditional internal combustion engines, electric vehicles have a simpler overall structure, so electric vehicles are easier to control. In addition, it is relatively easy to control the input and output of voltage and current through electric motors, as well as to match the entire set of autonomous driving components.

Based on this, we can see that Apple’s ultimate goal may not be to be just a supplier, but to manufacture new energy vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities.