According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to manufacture and ship an electric car within the next four years.
“The report says Apple is moving forward after investigating options for more than a year, as well as recently meeting with government officials in California. The report also says that Apple’s first vehicles may not be autonomous,” USA Today reported.
Reportedly, Apple plans to triple its current amount of employees and speculation of a new automotive testing site in San Francisco has surfaced.
“But by far the biggest proof point is the considerable hiring of engineers with automotive backgrounds that the company has done in recent months. Some have come from Elon Musk’s successful electric car company, Tesla, which some analysts have suggested could be a natural acquisition target for cash-rich Apple, and a quick way to buy itself into the often vexing auto manufacturing business,” according to USA Today.
“A range of traditional automakers, from Audi to Volvo, have stepped up their Silicon Valley-based research and development labs in order to speed up work not on self-driving cars but rather on tech that gives drivers improved driver-assist tech, specifically for situations when traffic is slow.”
“Google in particular has made clear that when it comes time to mass-produce its pod-like two-person self-driving car, which is currently testing in Mountain View, Calif., and Austin, Texas, it will seek a partnership with an existing automaker to ease the considerable financial and regulatory burden that comes with automotive manufacturing,” USA Today reported.
An official announcement has not yet been released.
