Neil Hughes
Apple's automotive project is said to be moving along quickly, with the company allegedly planning to rent a sprawling 2,100-acre property near San Francisco to work on its apparently self-driving "Project Titan."
Evidence of the project came from a public records act request conducted by The Guardian, which revealed that Apple has met with GoMentum station, a former naval base in California. The secure facility is reportedly being outfitted to test autonomous vehicles, and Apple is said to have expressed interest.
The report also reaffirmed AppleInsider's own exclusive information from March of this year, which revealed that the company is believed to be working on its automotive project at a facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. Sources revealed that "Project Titan" development is underway inside a top-secret building codenamed "SG5."
Apple is believed to be hiding its offices under the guise of a shell corporation, SixtyEight Research, that purports to be a market research company. Documents uncovered by AppleInsider revealed company identified as "SixtyEight LLC" paid to import a 1957 Fiat Multipla 600, and Apple chief designer is known to have an affinity for Fiats.
The latest "Project Titan" details reveal that Apple engineer Frank Fearon contacted GoMentum in an effort to use their facility, allegedly for the automotive project. The former Concord Naval Weapons Station reportedly includes highway overpasses, railway crossings, and other typical road features for testing autonomous vehicles.
A GoMentum Station official strangely confirmed the talks with Apple in a comment to The Guardian. Randy Iwasaki, the executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority that owns GoMentum Station, told the publication that they signed a non-disclosure agreement with Apple.
"We can't tell you anything other than they've come in and they're interested," Iwasaki said.
The Titan team is alleged to involve several hundred workers, and Apple has been accused of illegally poaching high-ranking executives from A123, a battery maker whose technology has been applied in high-performance electric vehicles.
Apple's top brass has only helped to fuel the rumors, with multiple reports claiming that Chief Executive Tim Cook visited BMW's headquarters last year, and toured its Leipzig factory to see how it manufactures the i3 series. And in an interview in May, Apple operations chief Jeff Williams referred to cars as "the ultimate mobile device."
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
144 Comments
Shut up and take my money!
That would be the Concord Naval Weapon Station, grew up right by it.
Too little too late. They have spent too much of the past, working as hard as they can just so Tim could walk out on stage and keep saying, "It's the the thinnest iPhone EVER!". (whoopty-doo). Should have bought all of Detroit back in 2009. Now, they really are going to be playing catch-up.
I don't know how to feel about this. If Apple really thinks it can revolutionize the car industry, then yes give it a shot. If they want to get into the car business because they think that is where the growth will be, that is not a good enough reason. It means Apple's DNA has changed.
Hmm...I don't see any Frank Fearon that works for Apple on LinkedIn. I wonder if he's a new employee. It's interesting that these car stories seem to leak on Fridays. The stories from back in February also leaked on Friday.