Apple Plans Electric Car Release as Early as Year 2020: Bloomberg

More sources have emerged to add fuel to the Apple electric car rumour fire, this time coming from Bloomberg, which says the company plans to release a vehicle by as early as 2020:

Apple Inc., which has been working secretly on a car, is pushing its team to begin production of an electric vehicle as early as 2020, people with knowledge of the matter said.

If you think entry into the auto industry is difficult, according to one person, the example of Tesla being able to jump into the market has shown it’s not as impossible as some may presume. Hence Apple’s jump into the electric car game.

Sources say Apple started ramping up its car team within the past couple of months. The team has roughly 200 people and the company has reached out to hire experts in battery and robot technologies. Apple may also decide to ditch or delay the project if executives aren’t happy with progress, as they have done before on other projects, say sources.

Apple recently was sued by battery manufacturer A123 for poaching the latter’s engineers, a sign the iPhone maker is taking its secret project seriously.

The Wall Street Journal previously stated Apple’s secret ‘Project Titan’ consists of 1,000 people dedicated to creating an Apple-branded electric vehicle.

According to Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group, an experienced car makers spends 5-7 years to create a new vehicle before it comes to market. As for starting from scratch? He says “you’re probably talking more like 10 years.”

Is Apple seriously making an electric vehicle? It sounds like it, but don’t expect anything to materialize soon as a project this large could take a long time to perfect and get right. I can’t wait for the iMinivan!

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.