The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has given the team behind project Titan the permission to increase the total number of people working on the project from 600 to 1800. Though the Cupertino-based tech giant might be exploring autonomous cars, initial Apple EV won’t in fact be self-driving. On the other hand, Apple is flush with cash on hand-more than $178 billion earlier this year-and can pretty much afford to do whatever kinds of research and development it wants to try.
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Regardless, it seems Apple is keen to use its vast knowledge of battery and sensor technology to shake up the vehicle world, as it did to the smartphone market with the iPhone.
There’s no word yet if Apple plans to set up its own manufacturing facility, like Tesla, or contract with an outside supplier, but it has recently hired several automotive industry veterans to work on the project.
In Apple’s parlance, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product’s main features.
The company declined to comment to the Journal for its report. And we know they’re interested in doing vehicle testing at a former Navy weapons station east of San Francisco.
And last month, an Apple attorney met with officials at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss the state’s regulations for self-driving cars.
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It marks the latest in a string of reports suggesting Apple could look to compete in the automotive industry. For the time being, we’ll just have to continue amusing ourselves with internal bets about how long it will be before Apple execs ‘fess up and make a statement about the Titan electric auto project.
