Apple is tripling the number of employees working on a secretive effort called "Project Titan," which media reports have suggested is a code name for an electric car.
DETROIT, MI - Apple is tripling the number of employees working on a secretive effort called "Project Titan," which media reports have suggested is a code name for an electric car.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple could be targeting a release date of 2019, though that "ship date" could also be when engineers are set to sign off on a final design.
The WSJ first reported on Apple's potential plans for an electric car in February, and has been citing sources familiar with the project. The Cupertino, Calif.-based maker of iPhones and iPads has so far remained mum on any such plans.
The number of personnel working on Project Titan now totals about 600, according to the WSJ.
Apple has been hiring hundreds of former auto industry designers, engineers and executives. That's led some to speculate whether the company is actually building an electric car or whether it simply wants to gain more footing in other aspects of the auto industry.
Apple is already in the dashboard of major automakers' products via its CarPlay, which mates vehicle infotainment systems with customers' Apple devices.
Developing a car would be a cash-intensive undertaking. But Apple has plenty of money to burn, including $178 billion in cash. According to Bloomberg, that gives Apple about seven times as much cash as General Motors.
Elon Musk, whose Tesla Motors electric car company could be a potential competitor, was quoted last February as saying that Apple is "just running out of ways to spend money. They spend money like it's water over there and they still can't spend enough of it."
Apple also could be dipping its feet in autonomous driving. Company representatives met with officials at an automotive testing facility in San Francisco in May, and last month an attorney for Apple met with California's Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss the state's regulations on self-driving cars, the Associated Press reports.
An official with the California DMV confirmed the meeting to the AP, but said it often meets with various companies on DMV operations.
The WSJ reports that the company's first car is not likely to be autonomous.
Regardless of whether Apple is developing its own vehicle, the breadth of Project Titan implies the Silicon Valley company is serious about auto-related research and development.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.