Apple Ponders an Electric Car

Apple Inc. has assembled a group of several hundred employees to develop an electric vehicle, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

The Apple-branded concept, code named Titan, resembles a minivan, according to the sources. They say CEO Tim Cook approved the project a year ago and assigned Steve Zadesky, vice president of design, to head it. Zadesky, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer, reportedly was given permission to assemble a team of as many as 1,000 current employees.

The Journal notes that within the past year Apple hired Johann Jungwirth, formerly CEO of Mercedes-Benz R&D in North America, and industrial designer Marc Newson, who once created a concept car for Ford Motor Co.

Launching a carmaking operation is expensive. But the Journal points out it wouldn't be prohibitive for Apple, which is sitting on a $178 billion cash trove. The newspaper's sources say the company has been in talks about assembling an EV with such contract assemblers as Magna Steyr in Austria.

Last year Apple debuted its CarPlay system, when enables a driver to access such features as no-hands calling, music and maps by selecting iPhone-like icons on the vehicle's navigation screen. More than 20 carmakers have announced they will add the feature.