Tesla braces for a new electric car rivalry with tech giant Apple

Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla had little to worry about when it came to its rivals' EV deliveries in recent years.  

Tesla set another record for deliveries in 2023 with 1.81 million vehicles delivered in 2023, slightly surpassing its stated goal of 1.8 million. Tesla's top global rival BYD finished in second place globally with 1.6 million all-electric vehicle deliveries in 2023, a record for that company.

Related: Tesla's highly-anticipated $25,000 car set to start production next year

In the U.S., General Motors and Ford were far behind Tesla with GM delivering 75,585 all-electric and Ford reporting 72,608 delivered in 2023.

The world's leading EV company had also delivered a record 1.37 million vehicles in 2022, and its rivals were farther behind it in deliveries then as well. Tesla's top global rival, China-based BYD, finished in second place also in 2022 with about 900,000 all-electric vehicles delivered.

Tesla had been in price war with some of its rivals last year, too, as its competitors looked for better ways to compete. In early October, Tesla lowered the list price of the Model 3 from $40,240 to $38,990 and its industry leading seller Model Y from $47,740 to $43,990, which is where they are today. 

Ford in May 2023 had cut the price of its all-electric Mustang Mach-E by up to $4,000 and in July 2023 lowered the price of its signature EV truck the F-150 Lightning by 16%, or $9,980, to $59,974. It subsequently reduced the price even further to $49,995 in anticipation of a ramp up of sales of Tesla's new Cybertruck.

General Motors' 2023 Chevy Bolt has been the most affordable electric vehicle on the market with a manufacturer's suggest retail price beginning at $26,500. GM, however, decided to discontinue manufacturing Bolts, but expects to bring it back in 2025 under its third generation Ultium battery technology.

Tesla rolling out a more affordable EV

Tesla, however, reportedly will be ready for the next generation Chevy Bolt's arrival, since it recently said that it plans to begin production in 2025 on a new more affordable electric vehicle that would be priced at about $25,000.

The timing of that new lower-priced EV will be important, since another new rival EV company will be getting ready to launch its  first new vehicle in the years ahead.

Musk has said he believes his electric vehicle company Tesla is a technology company. The EV manufacturing company's No. 1 rival, therefore, might eventually become tech giant Apple and its CEO Tim Cook.

Apple  (AAPL) - Get Free Report has dominated the smartphone industry since launching the iPhone in 2007. The technology giant over the next several years became even more ambitious as it reportedly had hundreds of engineers working on an electric vehicle enterprise called Project Titan back in 2014.

Six years later in December 2020, TheStreet's Apple Maven columnist Daniel Martins reported that rumors about Apple planning to unveil a self-branded electric car in 2024 sent the stock through the roof. Speculation said that the company was developing new technology to make batteries less costly and more efficient. It was also rumored to be developing autonomous driving technology.

Apple unveiling its electric vehicle in 2028?

The Apple EV rumor mill had been somewhat quiet in subsequent years until this week when sources told Bloomberg that the tech giant is now planning to launch its Apple Car in 2028, InsideEVs reported. Apparently, two years ago, sources said Apple wanted to unveil its electric vehicle in 2026.

Apple seems to be pushing reset every couple of years for its electric vehicle launch. Some reports say Apple is spending $1 billion a year developing its Apple car. But this latest deadline might be the moment of truth for an Apple car, as those recent sources are saying the Cupertino, Calif., company may abandon the project if it isn't able to deliver on its 2028 goal.

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