Apple plans to build an autonomous car

Apple plans to make an autonomous car for consumers and aims to produce the vehicle by 2024, Reuters reported Monday.

The company is developing its own battery technology that could reduce the cost of power packs and extend the range of the vehicle, Reuters said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple is turning to external partners for elements of the system, including lidar sensors that give self-driving cars a 3-D view of the world in real time, Reuters added. Apple is also developing its own lidar technology.

There is still a possibility that Apple may decide to narrow the scope of its efforts to an autonomous driving system that would be integrated with a car made by a traditional automaker, Reuters reported, noting that it is unclear which manufacturer would build it for Apple.

Apple has been working on driverless car technology since 2014, but lowered its ambitions of a full vehicle in 2017, Bloomberg News reported.

Since then, Apple has been working on the underlying autonomous system. The company has been deciding whether to connect this system to its own car or existing vehicles, or to partner with an established automaker, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

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