Apple’s self-driving EV ‘at least half a decade’ away: report

Apple still has a ways to go before it’s ready to release its own self-driving electric vehicle (EV), according to Bloomberg‘s reliable Apple reporter Mark Gurman.

As per Gurman’s sources, Apple is “at least half a decade” away from launching its autonomous EV. That said, Gurman reports that the vehicle is “nowhere near the production stage.”

This lines up with a December report that the Apple car won’t debut until at least 2024, and another December report from KGI Securities analyst and frequent Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo that it won’t arrive until 2025 to 2028.

Currently, Apple has a small team of engineers “developing drive systems, vehicle interior and external car body designs with the goal of eventually shipping a vehicle,” according to Gurman. Apple’s ultimate goal, per Gurman, is to compete with Tesla in the EV market.

To help with that, Gurman notes that the company has even hired a number of ex-Tesla executives and “dozens” of former Tesla hardware and Autopilot engineers. As a whole, Apple is said to have “hundreds” of people working on its car, although most are developing the autonomous vehicle system rather than the vehicle itself.

Source: Bloomberg