Apple is reportedly exploring methods of charging electric vehicles.
According to Reuters, Cupertino is meeting with charging station companies, and has hired engineers with experience in the field. The effort is not related to the company's existing program that provides employees with EV charging, Reuters says, but is for Apple's not-yet-confirmed car project. Right now, it's unclear if Apple wants to do its own thing, like Tesla's Supercharger platform, or partner with an existing provider.
Apple did, however, recently, make a surprise $1 billion investment in Chinese taxi service start-up Didi Chuxing.
Not surprisingly, Apple has not publicly discussed its rumored car plans. But it has hired at least four electric vehicle-charging specialists, Reuters says, like BMW's Rónán Ó Braonáin, Nan Liu, and Kurt Adelberger.
These moves could go a long way toward meeting the company's goal to start shipping its electric vehicle—known internally as Titan—in 2019.
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Rumors about Apple's automotive ambitions date back to February 2015, when Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported that Cupertino has "several hundred" employees working on an electric car. Those rumblings heated up last summer, when word spread that Apple hired Doug Betts, former head of global quality at Fiat Chrysler Automotives.
Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.
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