Former Apple hardware engineer joins Rivian

A former Apple engineer has joined the automaker Rivian, known for its electric vehicles

A former Apple hardware engineer, who worked at the company for over a decade, has recently joined the automaker Rivian.

While he was employed by Apple, Jeff Alves was the company's Director of Hardware Engineering. As part of the company's battery engineering team, he worked on various projects such as the charging system for the original Apple Watch.

Alves was also involved in the development of the now-canceled Apple Car, as his name can be seen on the related Apple patents.

Alves' move to Rivian was first spotted by the site RivianTrackr and later reported by 9to5mac. In a LinkedIn post, Alves announced his departure and detailed his experience at Apple during the 11 years of his employment with the company.

"I joined Apple in 2013 with a leap of faith. I had no idea what I would be working on, but I was hoping for something fast-paced, and I got it! I contributed to shipping the first Apple Watch by leading the charging system development," Alves said in the post. "This all happened within about 18 months of joining - lots of white board sessions, numerous emails and meetings, more than a few invaluable lessons learned and a couple of trips to China. I loved this time at Apple and the people I met!"

Alves' new role at Rivian will be Senior Director of Battery Engineering. At the company, he will work alongside his former Apple coworkers, Jonas Reinke and DJ Novotney, both of whom left Apple and joined Rivian earlier this year.

In May of 2024 it was reported that Apple may have been in talks with Rivian surrounding a potential revival of the canceled Apple Car project. The Apple Car project was purportedly scrapped in its entirety in February of 2024.