Bloomberg is adding fuel to the Apple electric car rumor bonfire, as it reports today that the Cupertino company is shooting for a 2020 manufacturing start date for its vehicle.
The timeframe — automakers typically spend five to seven years developing a car — underscores the project’s aggressive goals and could set the stage for a battle for customers with Tesla Motors Inc. and General Motors Co., both of which are targeting a 2017 release of an electric vehicle that can go more than 200 miles on a single charge and cost less than $40,000.
The report, citing “sources familiar with Apple’s plans,” says Apple is pushing its development teams to start the first production runs for an electric vehicle within five years, which would be an ambitious goal, even for an established car maker.
The Bloomberg report does cover its own ass by noting that Apple could decide to scrap its effort if company executives aren’t happy with the results, as they’ve done with previous research and products.
Piling more logs on the rumor bonfire is the report earlier today that Apple is being hit by an employee poaching lawsuit by battery maker A123 Systems, claiming Apple poached five key engineers form A123 to work in a new battery technology division at the Cupertino company.
This is still all at the rumor stage, and will remain so if and when Apple makes an official announcement. Any move by Apple in the electric car sector would certainly be disruptive, and we’ll likely continue to see car company executives downplaying any effort Apple may make, now or in the future.
