Apple Is Looking to Expand Its Car Development
According to a new report, Apple is apparently in the process of seeking out a brand new 800,000 square foot space for the development of its autonomous vehicle, dubbled the “Apple Car.” The news suggests that development of the car is indeed underway, and is rocketing ahead.
The news comes from the Wall Street Journal (via 9to5mac), and cites comments made by Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman, who discussed the expansion of research and development in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He said:
We’re seeing the Toyotas of the world, the Teslas of the world, BMWs, Mercedes. Ford now is out in the marketplace looking for space. I haven’t even mentioned the 400,000 square feet that Google’s looking to take down and the 800,000 square feet that Apple’s looking to take down for their autonomous cars as well.
The same publication added that Apple's car project, “Project Titan,” is growing its team from the 600 individuals it had working on the vehicle at the end of last year.
Apple is poaching employees from Tesla in order to fuel the development of this project
This “poaching war” against Tesla has been going on for some time, too.
Of course, the Tesla brand would be a major rival for Apple's own electric car, if such a product ever made it to production. And so it's no surprise Cupertino has been targeting Tesla's employees through its recruitment for Project Titan. I have to admit, for a long time I'd dismissed much of the Apple Car talk, and didn't think we'd ever see a day when a motor came out of Cupertino. But today's most recent news has me feeling more confident than ever that something interesting is going on at Apple. As 9to5mac adds in its own report, 800,000 square feet certainly isn't much in terms of car factories, “but it's a lot of space in R&D terms.”
We'll keep you posted with further information as we receive it.