Apple loses 'Apple Car' senior director of engineering to electric aviation startup

A former Tesla alum has left his position as senior director of engineering for the Special Projects Group at Apple to work for electric plane startup Archer Aviation.

Michael Schwekutsch joined Apple in March 2019 after departing Tesla.

He worked within Apple's Apple's Special Projects Group. The group is home to some of Apple's most clandestine work, including projects like the still unannounced "Apple Car."

CNBC has discovered that Schwekutsch had recently departed Apple, moving to join electric air taxi start-up, Archer Aviation.

Archer is currently working on electric-powered air taxies that take off and land vertically. The company has developed one air taxi that can carry one passenger and one pilot and is currently developing a four-passenger model. According to CNBC, Archer plans to operate urban air mobility services in Los Angeles, pending FAA certification.

It is believed that Apple continues to push forward with the development of the "Apple Car." Sources familiar with the project have stated that Apple plans to make the vehicle fully autonomous and gives the project a potential launch date in 2025.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley recently advised clients it expects the forthcoming "Apple Car" to be the "ultimate EV bear case," and affect stocks in rival automotive companies.

18 Comments

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

About 3 years ago

More evidence that the Apple car project is continuing to be a failure.

I don't expect it to ever ship, and I can't imagine that it's ever going to be a huge impact on the car market even if it does. Maybe I'm wrong - but nothing I've seen so far suggests I am.

Apple has no experience in its history that suggests it's capable of being a successful car company.

Roderikus 56 comments · 3 Years

Indeed. Project Titan sadly is a black hole for aitomotive talent. Many get in, nver to be heard from. Only the more courageous escape for something more compelling.

elijahg 2842 comments · 18 Years

darkvader said:

More evidence that the Apple car project is continuing to be a failure.

I don't expect it to ever ship, and I can't imagine that it's ever going to be a huge impact on the car market even if it does. Maybe I'm wrong - but nothing I've seen so far suggests I am.

Apple has no experience in its history that suggests it's capable of being a successful car company.

Remember though that Tesla came from almost nowhere, so it shows it can be done from scratch. But I'd wager Tesla spent billions less developing their first car than Apple has spent on developing apparently nothing.

Roderikus said:

Indeed. Project Titan sadly is a black hole for aitomotive talent. Many get in, nver to be heard from. Only the more courageous escape for something more compelling.

It certainly seems to be a last stop for Apple's best talent before they quit. Whether that's because they're unable to function due to Apple's throttling secrecy around the project or because they can't ever see it being a success will no doubt be leaked one day. I wouldn't want to waste my effort on something that is unlikely to ever be a success due to not reaching some unattainably high bar for release.

9secondkox2 3148 comments · 8 Years

Sounds like the heavy lifting is done. QC and testing galore coming up. Looking forward to seeing disguised development mules on the road.
Can't wait for this thing to launch.

larryjw 1036 comments · 9 Years

I don't know the likelihood of an Apple Car every getting lift-off, but this air-taxi company Schwekutsch jumped ship for seems even more speculative.