Tesla senior engineer Jamie Carlson joins Apple

However, most evidence to date suggests that Apple will build its own electric auto , targeted for release in 2020. His role at Apple however, is simply listed as a a member of a special projects group.

Carlson, it’s worth noting, is just the latest in a long line of intriguing hires Apple has made in recent months. The engineer, which Apple has now hired from Tesla Motors, named Jamie Carlson, worked on autonomous firmware for the company, and it’s highly likely that he would be carrying out the same kind of work on Apple’s end.

It’s no doubt that Apple has the funds to match, or perhaps even exceed the technology that Google is using in the construction of their self-driving cars, but Google has the upper-hand in terms of on-the-road experience.

Since January, Apple has hired Megan McClain, a former Volkswagen AG engineer with expertise in automated driving, and Vinay Palakkode, a graduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, a hub of automated driving research.

In August, Apple hired Xianqiao Tong, an engineer who developed computer vision software for driver assistance systems at microchip maker Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O).

The revelations from LinkedIn profiles of Carlson and six other individuals come at a time when unidentified sources aware of the proceedings at Apple have disclosed that the company is building a vehicle and is studying self-driving technology. Apple is already working on testing locations where it seems that Apple’s “Project Titan” team has already worked with GoMentum Station which is a now-defunct naval base. Reports claim that as many as 1000 Apple employees are working in the Project Titan barracks, including former employees of Tesla, NASA, and a whole spate of major automakers.