Apple has reportedly given Project Titan, the codename of the tech giant’s electric vehicle project, the green light after spending more than a year researching the matter.
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Additional focus being put toward this idea shows Apple’s belief that it has an opportunity to become a factor in the auto industry.
Sources in the Inner Sanctum of the cult have called it a “committed project” and set a target ship date for 2019. The newspaper said that could just be a target for engineers to sign off on the design, not necessarily when a vehicle would be available for sale.
Today, the Journal has reported further details on the project, revealing that Apple is now committing serious resources to its efforts to bring an electric auto to market. Since then, the company has made some high-profile hires including Fiat Chrysler’s Doug Betts and autonomous vehicle researcher Paul Furgale. Apple has tapped long-time employee DJ Novotney as VP of program management for project.
At this point, the Apple-BMW partnership is not official and the company will have to go over a massive amount of hiring over the next couple of months as well.
The company declined to comment to the Journal for its report. This station is a former naval base near San Francisco, California, now in the process of being transformed into a testing ground for autonomous vehicles. In emails obtained through a public-records request, Apple expressed interest in scheduling time at the facility.
Now Apple is said to be moving forward with the plans, according to ‘people familiar with the matter, ‘ and will now be working with government officials in California. A department spokesman confirmed that meeting to The Associated Press on Monday, after it was first reported by the Guardian newspaper.
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Apple has been making some groundbreaking new hires recently, giving credence to the idea that a vehicle prototype may be well in the works. They include, for example, an engineer who specializes in automobile chassis.
