Apple patent data shows its growing interest in Project Titan and EVs

The Apple Car – or Project Titan – is full of comings and goings. While previous reports show the company is struggling to find a direction in the automobile industry, a report highlights how Apple is pushing to enter this business in the past 20 years.

According to a joint investigation by Nikkei Asia and a Tokyo analytics company, Apple has filed 248 patents since the year 2000 in “self-driving and other vehicle software as well as in hardware related to riding comfort, such as seats and suspension” for its Project Titan.

The report shows that Apple’s patent applications peaked in 2017 and then temporarily tapered off. Now, if all applications Apple made in 2021 are published in the future, the total for the year will be on par with the record set in 2017, according to the CEO of Intellectual Property Landscape, Akira Yamauchi. The numbers are not out yet since it can take up to 18 months until a patent is officially granted.

Project Titan started around 2014 but with Tim Cook only overseeing the project from afar and rarely visiting the offices of Project Titan, another report by The Information shows that Apple’s CEO’s distant leadership has hurt the project, which lacks a “singular figure who can clearly define and articulate what the product should be.”

The patents also give us the direction Apple has been pursuing over these years with Project Titan, according to Nikkei:

Vehicle-related patent applications by Apple began to gather steam in 2008, the year after it released the first iPhone. Apple initially sought to focus on connectivity between iPhones and cars. (…) But in 2016, patent applications by Apple — which had been fewer than 10 per year until the middle of the 2010s — began to increase, totaling 44 in the year, up sharply from seven in 2015. And in 2017, the company filed a record 66 applications, including those related to autonomous driving.

The publication also says that Apple is not fixated on software such as CarPlay, as it wants to reinvent the car. “Unlike Google, which is specializing in self-driving technology, Apple is making patent applications with an eye toward developing its own vehicle,” Yamauchi said.

While 2025 is expected to become a turning point for connected cars and EVs, it’s not clear whether Apple will be able to develop a vehicle.

Noting that the company has no automaking experience, Hiroto Suzuki, managing partner at consultancy Arthur D. Little Japan, said: “I wonder if [Apple] can ensure safety when it outsources the production of cars, which require more parts and higher levels of safety” than smartphones.

You can read the full story here.

Are you excited to see how Project Titan will develop? 9to5Mac will make sure to report once we hear more about Apple’s latest plans.