Apple’s engineering teams have filed detailed patents relating to suspension systems that use ultrasonic sensors; Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations; Advanced exterior lighting and messaging system for autonomous vehicles; next-gen liquid cooling systems; vehicle door hinge systems and car seat reclining mechanisms; heads-up displays for windshields; next-gen sun visor systems built into all vehicle windows; advanced LIDAR systems with machine learning; and the list goes on and on.

Beyond patents, Apple has also hired world-class executives in the automotive industry such as Desi Ujkashevic with 31 years experience at Ford and Dr. Manfred Harrer, head of chassis development at Porsche.

Apple has yet to make their project public and because of that, negative unsubstantiated rumors have surfaced over time. The latest rumor from The Information, if it’s to be believed, is interesting though not in the least troubling. 

According to the report, there have been a series of mishaps with Apple’s autonomous vehicles, such as Apple’s self-driving cars having trouble navigating some streets, frequently bumping into curbs and veering out of lanes in the middle of intersections during test drives near the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters.

And yet, GM’s Cruise autonomous Cab was in an accident just a few days ago and injured people, according InsideEVs. In January a Tesla was involved in an accident that killed two people while the car was in autopilot  mode. And, according to a June report by NPR, regulators have reported that there have been 400 car crashes in 11 months involving autonomous vehicles. So clearly this is an industry wide issue and not isolated as a Project Titan issue by a long shot.

The Information report went on to note that Apple has been trying to work out the kinks in Project Titan, its autonomous electric vehicle program, since it sent several of the self-driving cars on a test run along a 40-mile stretch from Bozeman, Mont., to the nearby Big Sky ski resort last August.

The test drive was a seeming success, as the prototypes managed to make the journey without needing the aid of three-dimensional road maps that are typically used by other firms that are developing self-driving fleets.

The demonstration was even filmed using aerial drones. The images and footage were then used to make a flashy promotional video to impress top Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook. 

But engineers at Apple were reportedly dismayed when the test vehicles struggled to conduct basic navigation maneuvers back on city streets near the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

For more read the full report by The Information.

Until we get the full story from Apple at some point in the future, trying to judge the progress of Project Titan from a few “sources” and mishaps holds little sway in the true progress of Project Titan. Obviously the naysayers will see it differently.