Apple EV Cancelled Three Years After Ford Hired Doug Field

February 28, 2024 9:27 am

The saga of the Apple EV – the very first automobile from the tech company that’s been rumored to be in the works for years now – is a long and winding one, filled with rumors, speculation, and a whole lot of mystery. One of the many turns this project has taken happened back in September 2021, when Ford hired former Apple VP of special products, Doug Field, as its new chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, an exec that was reportedly leading the Apple EV project at that time. After that, Apple Watch veteran Kevin Lynch took over the project, putting it back on track for the time being. Last month, we learned that Field actually left Apple because he didn’t believe its car would ever come to fruition, and now, it seems as if he was correct in that assumption, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

After roughly a decade, the Apple EV project is reportedly dead, which apparently came as a huge surprise to the roughly 2,000 workers who were in the process of developing it. Lynch reportedly announced the decision, along with COO Jeff Williams, noting that work on the Apple EV will begin winding down as its Special Projects Group (SPG) focused on automotive development will instead move to the artificial intelligence division, where they’ll now work on generative AI projects.

It’s unclear what will become of the hundreds of hardware engineers and designers that were working on this future all-electric vehicle, though at least some will reportedly be laid off, while others may get the chance to apply for other positions within the tech giant.

Apple began working on its ambitious EV project back in 2014, and has thus far spent billions trying to create a revolutionary vehicle with full autonomy and next-gen battery technology. However, the project reportedly hit a “make or break” point recently, and the company contemplated delaying it until 2028 and focusing on Level 2 autonomy instead of Level 4, but ultimately, Apple executives came to the conclusion that such a product just wouldn’t produce the sort of profit margins it generates from its tech products.

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By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.