The Apple car won’t be ready for at least half a decade

Rumors about Apple’s work on an autonomous car have increased in recent weeks, but the project is still in its early stages and it will be years before an Apple car is launched, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Sources with knowledge of Apple’s product plans said Bloomberg that Apple will take “at least half a decade” to launch an autonomous electric vehicle.

Apple has a small team of hardware engineers who are working on propulsion systems, vehicle interiors and external car designs with the goal of eventually sending a vehicle to customers.

Apple’s car plans have changed several times over the years and just a few years ago, rumors indicated that Apple decided to forgo the development of a complete car and was focusing on an autonomous steering system that perhaps could be provided to others car manufacturers.

As development continues, Apple is once again focusing on the more ambitious goal of creating an entire vehicle. The objective of the automotive team is to create an autonomous vehicle that allows the user to enter their destination and be driven there with “little or no other involvement”.

The car is “far from the production stage” and could be ready in five to seven years, although deadlines may change. Apple is also looking for an autonomous car system for a third-party partner, so the company can still choose to end the development of its own car.

PleApple Car‌ employees are currently working from home or spending limited time at the office, which is apparently slowing down work on the vehicle design. Apple has a wide range of car experts working on the project, as described by Bloomberg.

This includes former Tesla vice president of interior design Steve MacManus, self-employed security specialist and former Waymo employee Jaime Waydo, and former Tesla vice president Michael Schwekutsch, who worked on engines and broadcasts. Apple recently hired Jonathan Sive, a BMW vehicle engineer who also worked at Tesla and Waymo, and Stuart Bowers, another former Tesla vice president.

Vehicle-related job listings suggest that Apple’s hiring is on the rise, with Cupertino looking for employees with experience in wireless communication, LED lighting, high-voltage battery systems and more.

A recent report from Reuters suggested that Apple plans to launch a car in 2024, but that timeline looks ambitious based on new information from Bloomberg. Reuters said Apple is developing a new battery design that will reduce costs and increase reach, and has also worked with automotive supply companies.

Another report indicated that Apple is designing a custom chip for the pleApple Car‌ that TSMC will manufacture, and Bloomberg confirms that Johny Srouji’s team is developing a custom chip based on Arm with a focus on machine learning processing to operate the autonomous car system.

Apple is likely to use a manufacturing partner to build the vehicles, but it remains unclear which company can strike a deal with Apple. Rumors of 2016 indicated that Apple was in negotiations with Magna International, but the negotiations ended because Apple’s plans at the time were unclear.