Apple has already been rumored to be working on a car – and documents acquired by the Guardian have revealed that not only is Project Titan indeed underway, it is apparently further in development than many speculators had previously thought.
In May, Apple engineers met officials from GoMentum Station, a former naval base in San Francisco Bay being converted into a secure testing site for autonomous vehicles. Following a public records act request, the Guardian has seen correspondence in which Apple engineer Frank Fearon says that his team seek “an understanding of timing and availability for the space”.
Apple’s standing interest in the site has also been confirmed by Randy Iwasaki, executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, which owns GoMentum Station – though he added that he could provide little more information due to a non-disclosure agreement with Apple.
Apple’s desire to keep the automotive project under wraps for now is further evidenced by the fact that it has a team working on the car from an inconspicuous building in Sunnydale, several miles away from the under-construction new Cupertino campus. Remarkably, however, Apple – previously thought to want to build an electric car based on the BMW i3, pictured above – is said to already have a self-driving vehicle that is nearly ready for road use.