Apple is making a bold move into the electric car market, with a 2024 target date for producing a passenger e-vehicle using its own battery technology, according to a report Monday from Reuters, citing people familiar with the program.
The Cupertino-based iPhone maker would be in direct competition with Palo Alto-based electric vehicle pioneer Tesla and Google's Waymo if and when its vehicle hits the market.
Apple launched its e-vehicle efforts, know as Project Titan, back in 2014 but hit a number of barriers that ultimately led to layoffs or reassignments of nearly 400 workers on the project in 2019.
Apple says its battery technology would cost less and have a longer range than those on the market, another person familiar with the battery design told Reuters.
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The report boosted the stocks of two companies that make lidar sensors, a core component for self-driving cars that allows their computers to take a 3D image of the world around them. Velodyne stock rose nearly 23% on Monday, and Luminar rose more than 27%, according to CNBC.
Apple stock was up nearly 4% during midday trading Tuesday.
