Tesla engineers deflected calls from this tech giant’s now-defunct EV project

Teslarati ^ | 02/07/2026 | Joey Klender

[SmokingJoe]

Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”

Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.

However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.

Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”

Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.

However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.

It then planned for a 2028 launch with “limited autonomous driving.” But it seemed to be a bit of a concession at that point; Apple was not prepared to take on industry giants like Tesla.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives noted in a communication to investors that, “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”

[eastexsteve]

I didn’t mean to doubt you l am going by what l read.

If you were to say that Teslas have higher insurance rates with certain drivers and certain carriers, I might agree with you. Teslas are not Toyota Corollas. They are high-tech, high performance cars. Even the lowly Model Y I have will do 0 to 60 in 5.4 seconds. There are no slow Teslas. As such, many people who buy them drive them like they stole them. I have no doubt this accounts for many accidents with certain groups of drivers. However, with drivers like my wife and myself who have excellent driving records and are over 70 years old, the insurance wasn't outrageous at all.

[gibsonguy]

From what l read the inflated rates are due to the repair costs of what would be minor accident for an ICE vehicle. A $1200 fender bender can cost 4-5 times that in an EV because the battery is spread across the entire car.

[eastexsteve]

From what l read the inflated rates are due to the repair costs of what would be minor accident for an ICE vehicle. A $1200 fender bender can cost 4-5 times that in an EV because the battery is spread across the entire car.

When a deer ran into my Mustang, I thought the $2,700 repair to the right fender was pretty outrageous. And yes, the deer hit me, and lived to run off. But, I guess Mustangs don't count because they're gas powered, LOL.