Apple Working On It's Own Electric Car

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Apple's initial foray into automobiles includes its CarPlay for linking cars and smartphones. The iPhone maker has begun developing an electric car that would challenge Tesla Motors, Nissan Motor and General Motors. PHOTO: REUTERS

Reports have emerged online that Apple Inc has a secret lab where it is working on the creation of an Apple-branded electric car, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The project has designed a vehicle that looks like a minivan, the newspaper quoted one person as saying.
The research lab was set up late last year, soon after Apple revealed its forthcoming smart watch and latest iPhones, the Financial Times said.

The Wall Street Journal said that the Apple project, code-named "Titan," employed several hundred people working a few miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The car would take years to finish the project, and it is not certain if Apple will eventually release the car into the market, Wall Street Journal said.

The news signals that Apple is sharply raising its ambitions for automotive technology, which has become a prime area of interest for Silicon Valley companies ranging from Google Inc to ride-sharing firm Uber to electric car-maker Tesla Motors Inc.

The connected car, or vehicles with a full range of Internet and software services beyond mere navigation and communications, is considered one of the ripest areas for expansion for technology companies.

Last March, Apple unveiled CarPlay, which lets drivers access contacts on their iPhones, make calls or listen to voicemails without taking their hands off the steering wheel.

Now, the head of Mercedes-Benz's Silicon Valley research and development unit, Johann Jungwirth, has defected to Apple, according to a LinkedIn profile, which said his title was head of Mac Systems Engineering.

Mr. Cook approved the car project almost a year ago and assigned veteran product design Vice President Steve Zadesky to lead the group, the people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Zadesky is a former Ford engineer who helped lead the Apple teams that created the iPod and iPhone.

Mr. Zadesky was given permission to create a 1,000-person team and poach employees from different parts of the company. Working from a private location a few miles from Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, the team is researching different types of robotics, metals and materials consistent with automobile manufacturing, source in the know said.

Along with HomeKit and HealthKit, the idea is to extend Apple's software dominance into industries including home devices, healthcare, and automobiles.

With electric cars projected to be one of the the next big technological leaps, what is the hope of developing countries where constant electricity supply is still a big problem?