Following the departure of a senior director of engineering, three more "Apple Car" engineers have left to pursue similar positions at air taxi-focused startups.
Image Credit: Archer Aviation
Apple lost Michael Schwekutsch, senior director of engineering to Archer Aviation, a startup bent on creating electric-powered air taxis. Schwekutsch currently serves as senior vice president at the startup.
But the losses haven't stopped there, as pointed out by Bloomberg.
Both Alex Clarabut, engineering manager for the team's battery systems group, and Apple hardware engineering manager Stephen Spiteri, have also departed to Archer Aviation.
Eric Rogers, one of Apple's chief engineers for radar systems, has also departed for an air-taxi startup, though this time it's Joby Aviation.
Apple's yet-unannounced "Apple Car" project has existed in some form or another for at least seven years.
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.