Apple is building a car, and it’s going to revolutionize the automotive world. Or it’s not building anything, in which case: Move along, folks, there’s nothing to see here.
The rumors surrounding Apple’s alleged expansion into the auto industry with its own car, codenamed Project Titan, have been percolating for years. And with a recent report that Apple will have its car ready by 2019, those rumors are gaining more steam than ever.
Of course, given that this is Apple, we won’t know for certain the company’s doing a car until said vehicle actually rolls onto a stage in Cupertino. But, still, we have clues. Here are the latest and most credible rumors, reports, whispers, and tidbits.
Apple to deliver car by 2019
The most recent rumor about a potential Apple Car comes by way of the venerable (if not 100% reliable) Wall Street Journal, which reports that Apple wants to ship its own car by 2019. That’s just four years from now, and that timeframe sounds incredibly ambitious.
Still, it could be doable, as The Journal says that Apple has tripled the number of people working on its automotive initiative from 600 to a whopping 1,800.
Apple’s car will be electric
Of course, to build a car from the ground up in less than five years requires experience and expertise. So Apple has reportedly been poaching employees from a variety of automotive technology companies to fill its ranks.
One company Apple is alleged to have hired away employees from is Massachusetts-based battery maker A123 Systems. According to a lawsuit filed by the company against Apple, the tech giant ran an “aggressive campaign to poach” A123 Systems’ employees, Bloomberg Business reported.
Bloomberg adds that Apple has also hired experts from companies including Samsung, LG Chem, and Panasonic.
It will be self-driving
In addition to hiring away employees from battery makers, Apple has reportedly been busy luring autonomous driving experts from a variety of companies.
The Daily Mail reports that Apple has hired people from Tesla’s self-driving program, as well as from Ford, Volkswagen and BMW.
Further fueling the rumors that Apple’s car will be autonomous is a report from The Guardian, which says that Apple’s senior legal counsel, Mike Maletic, met with several officials with the California Department of Motor Vehicle including the department’s self-driving car experts. (We can only assume Apple got to skip the line.)
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