Apple is seemingly developing an electric vehicle to rival Tesla

A series of reports emerging this past weekend indicate that there’s a very high probability that Apple is designing its own electric vehicle to compete with the likes of electric car manufacturer Tesla. Codenamed “Titan,” the project is said to resemble a minivan and aims to develop a long-range battery technology whose breakthrough may tinkle down to Apple’s other battery-powered products.

The Wall Street Journal explains that a person familiar with the project revealed it’s being spearheaded by Steve Zadesky, vice president of iPhone product design, who was also given free rein to amass a team of 1,000 people from multiple departments across the company in an effort to research robotics and the material science adherent to vehicle design.

Apple was unwilling to confirm or deny the rumors when contacted by BloombergBusiness, but comments issued by CEO Tim Cook last September lend credibility to its assertion, when he stated “there are products [Apple] is working on that no one knows about, that haven’t been rumored about yet.”

Incidentally, Apple has filed hundreds of patents for unrealized and abandoned project designs over the years including the rumored Apple TV, or some Google glass-like device. Albeit, the company’s latest innovation, the Apple Watch, proved legitimate even after years of speculation and buzz. 

It’s unclear why a consumer electronics maker grounded in mobile devices and computers would wish to expand into the car business, but Sam Jaffe, senior research analyst at Navigant Consulting Inc., suggested to BloombergBusiness that Apple may simply be looking for a way to spend money while simultaneously benefiting its flagship products with the fruit of the R&D.

Source: Dezeen.com via BloombergBusiness