Apple has been secretly developing an Apple-branded electric vehicle, with hundreds of people working on the project code-named “Titan”, The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing different sources familiar with the matter. The people said that the first design resembles a minivan.
CEO Tim Cook last year approved the car project and assigned product design VP Steve Zadesky to lead the group, sources said. Zadesky is a former Ford engineer who helped lead the Apple teams that created the iPod and iPhone. He was given permission to create a 1,000-person team and take employees from different parts of the company.
Working from a private location a few miles from Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, the team is researching different types of robotics, metals and materials consistent with automobile manufacturing, the people said.
Jonathan Ive’s team of Apple designers has held regular meetings with automotive executives and engineers in recent months, in some cases trying to hire them. Recent recruits to Apple’s team include the head of Mercedes-Benz’s Silicon Valley R&D unit. Apple executives have flown to Austria to meet with contract manufacturers for high-end cars including the Magna Steyr unit of Canadian auto supplier Magna International. Last year, Apple hired Marc Newson, an industrial designer and friend of Ive, who created a concept card for Ford Motor.
Apple hopes to put its stamp on the electric vehicle market in the same way it did the smartphone with its iPhone, a source said. A side benefit of the project, according to one of the people, is that it has persuaded many Apple employees who were thinking of leaving the company to stay and work on the new endeavor without the pressure of churning new products every year. Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that it had received an email from someone claiming to be an Apple employee, which said the iPhone maker’s latest project would “give Tesla a run for its money”.
Apple and Magna declined to comment on the reports.
