Number of engineers on ‘Project Titan’ is tripling, Wall Street Journal reports

Apple is speeding up work on a project that could lead to the California tech giant building its own electric car, according to a new report.

The maker of iPhones and iPads is tripling the number of engineers on the project, code-named Titan, and has set a “ship date” of 2019, the Wall Street Journal said Monday. The newspaper said that could just be a target for engineers to sign off on the design, not necessarily when a car would be available for sale.

Apple declined comment Monday on the Journal report, which cited unidentified sources.

• Apple’s self-driving car team secures senior Tesla engineer
• Apple electric car rumours stoked by recent hires

While Apple has never officially confirmed it’s planning to build a car, there are strong indications it’s at least interested in automotive technology. In recent months, Apple has hired a number of engineers with backgrounds in automotive and battery design.

Apple representatives also met in May with officials at an automotive testing facility located east of San Francisco. Site officials later confirmed to The Associated Press that Apple requested information about using their facility.

Meeting over self-driving car laws

And last month, an Apple attorney met with officials at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss the state’s regulations for self-driving cars. A department spokesman confirmed that meeting to The Associated Press on Monday, after it was first reported by the Guardian newspaper.

“DMV often meets with various companies regarding DMV operations. The Apple meeting was to review DMV’s autonomous vehicle regulations,” said Armando Botello, the agency’s deputy director, in an email.

However, Apple doesn’t plan to make its first vehicle fully autonomous, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with Apple’s plans.

• Robot drivers will mean good riddance to humans
• Morgan Stanley hikes Tesla stock price target on driverless car potential

A number of automakers and tech companies, including Google and Uber, are working on technology for autonomous and electric-powered vehicles. Google announced last week that it’s hired former Hyundai U.S. CEO John Krafcik to run its self-driving car program.

Analysts say Apple has the financial resources and ambition to design and build a high-end vehicle, although some believe it’s more likely interested in developing software for use in cars made by other companies.

“We believe the auto industry represents a significant opportunity for Apple, but we also expect Apple to be deliberate as always in its product development and testing,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in a Sept. 1 report. Munster said he believes there’s a “50-60 per cent probability” of an Apple car becoming a reality.