William Gallagher
Apple is said to be investigating a partnership with a US electric vehicle firm, believed to be Rivian, in a move that could mean reviving the Apple Car.
The whole Apple Car project was reportedly scrapped in February 2024, with its team redeployed to AI work. Unusually, the cancellation of a decade-long project was even seen as good news by analysts.
However, according to Digitimes, Apple is even now contemplating a partnership with an EV firm. Beyond a belief that the firm is Rivian, there is no further detail — and even citing supply chain sources, Digitimes specifically says the news is speculation.
If it's correct, then it's not clear how recent the news is, or whether it actually predates the cancellation. Then the scope of Apple's investigation is not known either.
An Apple Car partnership would seem the most obvious outcome of a deal with Rivian, and it would not be the first time that Apple has at least approached other car firms. None of those previous arrangements with firms such as Hyundai or Kia worked out, however.
Plus it's also possible that Apple and Rivian are actually discussing the car maker finally adopting Apple CarPlay. Rivian currently does not support either CarPlay or Android Auto, and Apple is pursuing getting an extended version of its software into many vehicles.
Digitimes has a good track record for supply chain sources. However, it has a much poorer one for what conclusions about Apple it draws from those sources.
Separately, once Apple had apparently cancelled the Apple Car, analyst Gene Munster said the company should buy Rivian.
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
18 Comments
I’ll believe it when I see it or when Apple/Rivian announces something.
Rivian is 18-24 months from bankruptcy at their current rate of cash burn. If Apple spent $10B on their car and has nothing to show for it, Rivian would just be another hole to throw money down. I want Rivian to succeed. I really do, but the reality is they’re still not gross margin profitable (cost to build more than money brought in when sold).
Assuming it is more than just Car Play, allowing them to claw back some of the R&D investments through licencing makes a lot of sense.
The question perhaps would then be branding. Would it be 'anonymous' or 'Apple Inside' or something similar. And how far along was it in its efforts.
On the face of it, it looks like a viable option (assuming there is enough of a finished product to offer).
It might not be crazy for Apple to buy an EV maker.
A large company buying a small company brings the small company’s products to a very large customer base, while also providing funding to scale up manufacturing. Apple’s Beats acquisition likely paid back Apple’s $3b investment in a few years just from selling Beats through Apple’s brick & mortar and online stores, as an example.
in any case this news suggests to us that Apple is not quite done thinking about a future of some sort in the EV/transportation market. And that’s a good thing.
I was thinking the other day that Aptera might be a better match for Apple given their product.