14 DAY TRIAL // Hundreds of employees are currently working on Apple’s rumored car project, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal. At this point, the iCar seems confirmed.
WSJ has learned from these people that “Apple has several hundred employees working secretly toward creating an Apple-branded electric vehicle,” and that the initial design resembles a minivan, which bodes well with those Apple-leased cars that were recently spotted touring New York and California.
Adding further heft to the iCar rumor, Apple has recently hired the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz’s Research & Development division, Johann Jungwirth. Along with product design Vice President Steve Zadesky, a former Ford executive, the iCar team already has its own research facility just a few miles off campus.
Everyone there is working on “robotics, metals and materials consistent with automobile manufacturing,” the sources said.
Apple Car mumblings take the Internet by storm
As you’d expect, everyone has issued their personal opinion about why Apple should or shouldn’t make a car, while some have even retracted their investments in Apple because of the rumor.
Others, such as Carl Icahn, continue to have tremendous faith in the Cupertino giant. Many believe that if Apple plans to give Tesla a run for its money, it stands a very good chance to succeed. After all, when was the last time Apple released a flop?
However, like with the Apple Watch, the car project is likely to spend quite a bit of time in development. In fact, the magnitude of such a project would imply at least a few years of work before even rolling out a prototype. But since Apple has been working on it for at least a year, it’s quite possible that the project is way ahead of what we know so far.