Apple Car won’t arrive for at least 5-7 years, claims Bloomberg
In a new report today, Bloomberg claim that Apple’s rumored electric car, dubbed Apple Car, won’t be ready until at least 2025.
Reports have ramped up over the past couple of weeks over “Project Titan,” Apple’s codename for the top secret project. The self-driving electric vehicle, expected to rival Tesla, is said to feature a “next level” battery to achieve increased range and superior levels of charge. The car is also said to use Apple-developed self-driving technology.
Bloomberg report that Apple is continuing to hire former Tesla engineers for the project, which isn’t expected to launch for at least 5-7 years, matching a previous estimate given by Respected TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has a small team of hardware engineers developing drive systems, vehicle interior and external car body designs with the goal of eventually shipping a vehicle. That’s a more ambitious goal than in previous years when the project mostly focused on creating an underlying self-driving system. The company has also added more ex-Tesla Inc. executives to the project. – Apple also recently hired Jonathan Sive, a vehicle engineer from BMW AG, Tesla and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, as a senior manager on the car project. In 2019, Apple tapped Michael Schwekutsch, Tesla’s former vice president in charge of drive systems, adding to a growing list of former Tesla employees working on the vehicle effort.
Car maker Hyundai confirmed on Thursday that it was one of a number of manufacturers currently in talks with Apple over its self-driving car. It is understood that Apple will use existing car manufacturers, such as Hyundai, to produce the new vehicle and leverage their supply chain and manufacturing facilities.
Hyundai Motor confirms discussions with #Apple over potential Apple Car production. https://t.co/HCcaL0uFN1 pic.twitter.com/lIbtEC2ExO
— theapplepost.com (@theapplepost) January 8, 2021
Apple started poaching Tesla engineers almost five years ago for its automotive project. It is understood that since then, Apple had shifted its focus from building a car to developing autonomous vehicle software, but after various changes in its approach, the company is now said to have its sights back on releasing its own vehicle for consumers.
Image: Tesla