Apple Car rumor roundup: What we ‘know’ so far
Rumblings that Apple is developing its own car revved up again this week with a report in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that the iPhone maker has built a secret laboratory in the heart of Berlin to work on the vehicle.
But that’s just the latest in a long series of reports about Apple’s rumored car (which even comes with a cool codename: Project Titan). With so many stories out there, it can be hard to distinguish fact from fantasy. Here’s what we’ve heard so far.
Apple is working on a car in Germany
Let’s start with this most recent rumor: Apple has reportedly hired 15 to 20 people to work on its car in a secret lab in Berlin. FAZ says those workers have backgrounds in engineering, software, hardware, and sales.
If Apple is launching a car of its own, it would make sense for it to have offices in other countries, which could help optimize the vehicle for as many markets as possible. It also wouldn’t hurt Apple to get some of Germany’s legendary automotive magic under the hood.
Apple hired Tesla’s former VP of vehicle engineering
According to 9to5Mac and Electrek, Apple has snagged Tesla’s former vice president of vehicle engineering, Chris Porritt. Previously the chief engineer at Jaguar, Porritt has reportedly been assigned to work on Apple’s special projects team. And I’m pretty we can assume that project isn’t a new iPhone.
Austrian manufacturer Magna Steyr will build the Apple Car
In addition to news that Apple has a lab in Germany, FAZ also reports that Austria’s Magna Steyr will build the Apple Car. The manufacturer, which builds Mini Coopers, works with automakers ranging from Aston Martin to Volvo, and operates in 29 countries.
Apple is sucking up automotive talent
According to a variety of reports, Apple has hired experienced engineers from both Silicon Valley and the automotive world. During an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, Tesla’s Elon Musk commented on Apple’s ongoing poaching of that company’s employees: “If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple.” He’s also called Apple a “Tesla Graveyard.”
But it’s not just Tesla that Apple has been poaching from. The company has also reportedly hired folks away from Ford, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz. And Apple was named in a lawsuit filed by battery maker A123 Systems, which alleged that Apple ran an aggressive campaign to poach its employees.
Apple has looked into self-driving cars
Last September, the Guardian reported that Apple had met with officials from the California DMV to talk about autonomous vehicle testing in the state.
The company also reportedly spoke with officials from California’s GoMentum Station, a massive — and, more importantly, secretive — autonomous vehicle testing facility built on a former naval facility. The site is allegedly patrolled by armed guards and has as many as 2,100 acres of drivable roads.
Apple is working out of a secret office rented under a fake name
According to AppleInsider, the Apple Car project is working out of a Silicon Valley office — equipped with automotive repair facilities — leased by a market-research firm called SixyEight Research. Proof that the office is actually occupied by Apple is relatively thin: AppleInsider says that employees wear badges similar to those worn by Apple’s workers, and that the lobby for the research firm was recently moved to another building owned by Apple.
The car will hit the market by 2019
The Wall Street Journal reported in September that Apple is expected to ship its car by 2019. That’s an incredibly short time frame in which to get a car built and on the road for customers — which makes this particular rumor a bit hard to swallow.
Is the car real?
Based on all of the available evidence, it does seem likely that Apple is working on a vehicle of its own. Sure, Apple (like most companies of its stature) is constantly testing potential products to put on the market. But the resources that the tech giant seems to be investing in Project Titan would indicate that it has moved beyond the prototyping stage at this point.
But can Apple really manufacture a vehicle of its own? Can it do so in the rumored time frame? We’ll find out soon enough.
Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
