Apple is moving forward with plans to produce an electric vehicle, targeting a shipping date of 2019 and declaring it a “committed project”, according to The Wall Street Journal. Under the reported timeline, the company would come into the electric vehicle market much later than many of its established would-be competitors. WSJ’s source also reports employees from various parts of the company have been reassigned to the Titan effort, effectively tripling the original 600-person team.
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It’s unclear whether Apple’s first vehicle will be a Tesla-esque human-powered electric auto, or a driverless model closer to Google’s vision for the future of automotive travel. The famously secretive company hasn’t made many details available as to how it plans to manufacture the cars, or who it hopes to partner with. Apple has also met with two groups of government officials in California.
But while the “ship date” has reportedly been set for 2019, the Journal reports that could just be the date the car’s design is finalized, not the date it goes on sale.
Apple declined comment Monday on the Journal report, which cited unidentified sources.
While Apple is rumored to be interested in making computerized cars that can drive themselves, the first version will require motorists to be in control, WSJ reported.
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It’s believed that Apple hopes to apply its expertise developed creating products such as iPhones – in fields including batteries, sensors and hardware/software integraton – to the automotive industry. 9to5Mac reports that a number of mechanical engineers from Tesla joined the Project Titan team, including the vehicle company’s lead recruiter Lauren Ciminera. Whichever route Apple takes, it is all but certain they will shake up the industry.
