Apple vehicle reportedly revving its electric engine for a 2019 release date

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the 600-member team has been approved to triple its ranks in order to hit a target ship date of 2019. The newspaper also reports that an Apple team met with two different groups of California government officials.

Apple has internally designated an electric vehicle as a “committed project”, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Despite Apple’s interest in driverless cars, it appears the first-generation vehicle will not be fully self-driving, reports WSJ. This project has been tipped by anonymous insiders, otherwise known as “people familiar with the matter” speaking with the Wall Street Journal this morning.

Apple had spent a year reviewing the feasibility of an effort, writes Wakabayashi.

Apple joins Google in this new race to get an electric vehicle on to roads. However, Tesla has demonstrated that it’s time for big changes in the automotive industry, and Apple could have taken notice.

“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 September 1 report. When there were rumors of Apple trying a phone, a lot of us had trouble understanding why. While Elon Musk’s company does not sell a completely autonomous driving vehicle , Tesla’s Model S is smart enough to safely navigate between lanes, sense pedestrians, adhere to speed limit signs and even pull into a spot in a parking garage.

Many details remain unclear, including who will actually build the cars for Apple. And we know they’re interested in doing vehicle testing at a former Navy weapons station east of San Francisco.