The Apple Car might hit the road a lot sooner than some experts predicted, according to a new report that claims the iPhone-maker plans to rev up hiring on its secret electric car project in hopes of getting the vehicle finalized by 2019.
Leaders of the Project Titan have been given permission to triple the 600-person car team, claims the Wall Street Journal, citing ‘people familiar with the matter.’ The electric car project has been designated internally as a ‘committed project,’ which means Apple’s taking its entrance into the automobile industry very seriously, but it could still the pull the plug if the project doesn’t go as well as hoped.
While the ‘ship date’ for the Apple Car has been set for 2019, WSJ notes that in Apple-speak that doesn’t mean the date customers will actually receive a new product. It can also mean the date engineers sign off on the car’s main features. Previous reports from earlier this year claimed Apple wants to get its new vehicle on the road by 2020.
Although a number of self-driving car experts have been hired by Apple recently, the company doesn’t plan to make its first electric car fully autonomous, but does plan to add the capability in the long-term. Apple has tapped long-time employee DJ Novotney as VP of program management for project. Novotney has been with the company for over 15 years and recently served as the Sr. Director iOS Devices for the past five years.
Apple has already been looking for a place to test its car, and company representatives recently met with the California’s DMV to discuss public road tests. Despite Apple’s efforts to speed up the project, people familiar with the project told WSJ that there is skepticism within the team that the 2019 target is achievable.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
4 responses to “Apple car project accelerates with possible 2019 ship date”
With 10 gazillion bazillion $ in their bank accounts, Apple could do pretty much what they want. That includes getting into personal automobile manufacturing. Or sending human mission to Mars or Jupiter moons. Or making Gladiator Tournaments legal in the US.
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All I want is for select/cut/copy/paste to work again in Safari on my iPad. It’s been broken since iOS 7. I also want fullscreen video podcasts back on my iPad, something that iOS 9 took away or broke. Oh, and while we are at it, how about iPad hardware and iOS software that doesn’t result in a painfully slow or crippled iPad within a couple of years?!
Hey Apple, try getting your existing small products to work as they should before trying something big like a car!!