WSJ: Tim Cook Approved the Development of the Apple Electric Car a Year Ago and 1,000 Employees are Involved in the Project

Rumors that Apple is developing an electric car have been around for a long time. And now, several major US media have little doubt that this information has the tangible ground in it. Allegedly, the project code-titled Titan already gathered a lot of Apple experts.

It is interesting that the existing conceptual developments use the minivan body type. The prototypes based on production cars of other brands running around vaguely hint at it. According to the Wall Street Journal, the team consisting of about 1,000 employees of the corporation is engaged in the secret work on the electric car production.

The research laboratory where the project is being developed was created at the end of the last year, after Apple had introduced the new iPhone and Apple Watch. Trying to create their own car can change the company?s business dramatically. The cars which are connected to the network and sport a complete set of software services are considered one of the most prospective niches for the development of technology companies.

Some Apple employees involved in the development of the electric minivan already went on the business trip to Austria, where they met representatives of the European manufacturers of the premium cars parts. The idea of creating a car was discussed in Apple long before the appearance of iPhone, as Phil Schiller, a senior vice president of marketing, confessed three years ago. In 2012, a member of the Apple?s board of directors even mentioned that Steve Jobs had wanted to create a car.

It may take Apple years to develop the electric car, and it is not certain that they will go for releasing it. At least, having similar ambitions, Google recently admitted that they would like to get partners from the car manufacturers, and the latter are convinced that Google can?t tackle this challenge on their own.

Apple recently hired Johann Jungwirth, the head of the Mercedes-Benz research and development center in Silicon Valley, as evidenced by his account on LinkedIn. Besides, the company actively employs experts in the field of robotics technology which have experience in automobile industry. It is unlikely that the company would need them for the development of the car?s entertainment system. Thus, the Titan project is quite possible to happen.

Source: macdigger.ru