Rumor has it that Apple aims to release its electric car in 2019.
According to a September Wall Street Journal report, Apple is accelerating its electric car efforts with a target release date of 2019.
The company reportedly has around 600 employees working on Project Titan, with that number bound to grow.
Source: Business Insider
And Apple has purchased several web addresses related to cars, including apple.car and apple.auto
Source: Macrumors
There are reports of it being developed in a secret lab in Berlin, Germany.
German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that Apple is running a secret laboratory in the middle of Berlin to develop the car.
But Apple could also be looking at building the vehicle — widely referred to as either the Apple Car or the iCar — in Vienna, Austria.
That information also comes from the Frankfurter Allgemeine report.
There are also facilities in Sunnyvale, California that are thought to be dedicated to Project Titan.
Apple actually leased a 96,000-square foot former Pepsi bottling plant in Sunnyvale in November (pictured above), prompting speculation that the tech giant is expanding its Project Titan facilities in the California city.
Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal
It's also worth noting that Apple "basically owns an entire hill in Ireland" where it may be working on the car.
The Irish Independent reported in March 2015 that Apple had plans to expand its factory in Holyhill, Cork (pictured above), which got a roughly $340 million investment some time in 2014. Job listings for the factory hint it's being used for automotive development.
Source: Irish Independent
The tech giant has also inquired about using GoMentum, which is a testing station that's been used by Google and Tesla.
Above you see a driverless Honda getting stationed at GoMentum.
Source: Business Insider
Ok, so there's a lot of places that could be housing the project, but what about the car itself? There are reports that the prototype Apple is working on resembles a minivan, but that could very well change.
We have yet to get any real insight as to what the Apple car will look like.
Source: WSJ
It'll probably be very connected. “When I look at the automobile, what I see is that software becomes an increasingly important part of the car of the future," Tim Cook said of cars of the future in October.
He wasn't speaking about the Apple car, but cars generally. Still, his comments have been seen as hinting to the features Apple will work to incorporate in its electric car.
"If you listed out the 10 top things you love about the car, [the interface] would probably not be on the top 10 list," Cook also said.
Source: WSJD Live Conference
In addition to being electric, the car could also be self-driving.
"It's a software game. It's all about autonomous driving," an automotive source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The rumor that the Apple car could be autonomous is further supported by comments an Apple source made that the car "will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money."
Source: Business Insider
And we know that Apple has met with officials from California's Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss the state's regulations for autonomous cars.
Source: The Guardian
But Apple has reportedly had a difficult time getting an automaker to help develop the car, with BMW and Daimler rejecting the tech giant's offers.
BMW and Daimler were both reportedly in talks with Apple to develop the car, according to an April story by the German news organization Handelsblatt.
Although there are reports Apple may be teaming up with vehicle engineering and contracting firm Magna, which is based in Vienna, Austria.
That doesn't seem too far fetched considering those rumors we mentioned earlier about the Apple Car getting built in Vienna.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine
In the meantime, Apple has hired quite a few automotive experts, like Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering Chris Porritt, pictured below.
Apple also recently hired David Masiukiewicz, formerly Tesla's senior CNC programmer for hardware prototypes, and Kevin Harvey, formerly Andretti Autosport's CNC machine shop supervisor.
Tesla's Elon Musk has even commented on how many employees have gone to work at Apple.
"We always jokingly call Apple the 'Tesla Graveyard.' If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I'm not kidding," Musk said.
We'll have to wait to hear more about Apple's car project.
