Apple’s efforts to build a self-driving electric car hit another speed bump recently after the company lost its navigation engineer to electric car startup Faraday Future.
Computer vision and vehicle navigation specialist Bart Nabbe was working with Apple’s not-so-secret Project Titan team for nearly the last two years, but his LinkedIn profile now shows that he’s at Faraday Future serving as the director of strategic partnerships.
Drivers won’t be hitting the highways in Apple’s self-driving vehicle at all this decade.
Apple has reportedly pushed back the goal launch date of its secretive electric car project that has been in the works since 2014. Previous rumors claimed Project Titan is aiming for an unveiling in 2019, but it may have hit a speed bump.
Apple is seeking an 800,000-square-foot warehouse to work on the Apple Car, according to a West Coast real estate giant, who claims space for developing electric vehicles is currently “a hot demand item” in Silicon Valley.
Upstarts like Apple and Alphabet are apparently competing with traditional automakers to set up shop for next-gen research facilities in the tech mecca.
Progress on the Apple Car is coming along faster than anticipated after Project Titan hit some speed bumps earlier this year.
Based on a batch of new hires, it appears that Apple Car parts may have already entered the prototyping phase at the company’s Product Realization Lab, where machinists and engineers produce and test product designs.
Apple VP Steve Zadesky was personally tapped by Tim Cook to lead Project Titan. But it looks like the so-called Apple Car will need to come to market under a new leader, as Zadesky is planning on leaving the company after 16 years.
