The Apple car: On sale in 2019?

[AF News Desk]

Word in Silicon Valley is that Apple Inc.’s tech gurus are going to have an electric car ready to roll in 2019. The Wall Street Journal reported the company has internally designated an electric car as a “committed project.” It is codenamed Titan, and the paper says Apple is raising the number of people working on it from 600 to 1,800.

Apple is known for keeping its future products secret almost as much as it’s known for the iPhone. Indeed, the company hasn’t confirmed it is working on a car, even though it’s lured dozens of EV and autonomous-driving engineers from the likes of Volkswagen AG and Tesla Motors. For example, Automotive News reports that Apple has hired Megan McClain, a former VW engineer with expertise in automated driving, and Vinay Palakkode, a graduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, a hub of automated driving research. According to a LinkedIn post, Apple also hired Jamie Carlson, a senior engineer from Tesla, Automotive News reported.

Apple boss Tim Cook appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” but wouldn’t bite. “We look at a number of things along the way,” Cook said in response to Colbert’s questions, “and we decide to really put our energies into a few of those.” The Journal points out that the car’s ship date doesn’t mean customers would receive it then, but it could mean 2019 is when engineers sign off on the car’s main features. The paper also said even people within the team think ’19 is too soon.

The Journal also said the first car is an EV, but not an autonomous EV -- that comes later.

The Journal says it’s unclear if Apple is going it alone developing its car or seeking a partner, pointing out Apple uses Taiwanese manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to build most iPhones.



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