Apple reportedly planning to produce electric car by 2020

Tim Cook (One More Thing 001)

Bloomberg reports that Apple is working to start producing its electric car by 2020, to take on Tesla and other key players in the automotive industry. The report on Thursday follows word from the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Bloomberg earlier this week that Apple is planning an autonomous vehicle.

The Thursday report gives the first indication that Apple actually intends to bring a car to market, rather than it being a prototype it’s working on in its $6 billion research department “for the fun of it”.

Apple will be three years late to the party, if General Motors and Tesla reach their 2017 goals of launching electric cars that can go more than 200 miles on a single charge and cost less than $40,000.

Since it’s still early days for Apple’s car project, not a ton of details have been shared. However recent reports have shed light on the team that Apple is building, which includes David Nelson, an executive recently hired away from Tesla. Apple is said to have close to 100 employees working on the project.

The Apple Car story began growing legs earlier in the month, when the press discovered a handful of unmarked minivans driving around California with roof-mounted camera equipment, leased to Apple.

On Thursday, electric car battery maker A123 Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple for poaching its employees. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has made similar claims.

I guess it’s time to start saving your nickels, quarters, and dimes, ladies and gentleman. You’ve got five years.

Source: Bloomberg