The industry transition to electric vehicles (EVs) has seen some interesting new players jockeying for a foothold. A big part of that boils down to the increasing role of software in modern vehicle design, and nobody does software like today’s technology companies. “These tech players are positioning themselves with a growing importance in this space,” says Pedro Pacheco, Senior Research Director at Gartner. “There is an interesting complementarity in this marriage in terms of the knowledge that they bring alongside the traditional know-how in the automotive sector.”
Among these various tech companies making moves are a handful of smartphone companies. Apple is perhaps the most well-known smartphone player investing in EVs. Project Titan kicked off in 2014 with the aim of developing an electric car. Since then the Apple Car project focus has shifted more towards autonomous driving, with plans to launch a model later this decade in collaboration with a manufacturing partner. However, it started a trend that has snowballed.
