Former Apple Hardware Chief Bob Mansfield Now Heading Project Titan EV Program
You're not supposed to know this but Apple is not-so-secretly working on an autonomous, electric vehicle project codenamed Project Titan. While Apple wants to keep its efforts on the down low, inside sources frequently spill the beans on the company's progress, and what they're saying now is that Apple's brought in Bob Mansfield, a former top executive, to lead the project.
Mansfield's been involved with several hardware releases at Apple. He joined the company in 1999 and led the development of products such as the MacBook Air and iMac before leaving the executive team in 2013. He had actually wanted to retire a year earlier but Tim Cook talked him out it, getting nine more months of service out of Mansfield before he left.
Now "people familiar with the matter" say he's back, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apparently all senior managers working on Project Titan report to Mansfield. Though Apple has never publicly acknowledged that it's working on the project, it's believed that several veterans in the auto industry and battery technology experts are part of the team.
As might be expected, Project Titan has proven anything but easy. It's faced several problems and challenges, one of them being the departure of Steve Zadesky in January of this year. Zadesky, who previously worked at Ford, led Apple's EV effort at the time.
Mansfield brings some stability back to the project. The aforementioned sources say there are hundreds of people working to make Apple's EV car a reality, though whether or not it's still on track for a 2020 release isn't clear.
Mansfield's been involved with several hardware releases at Apple. He joined the company in 1999 and led the development of products such as the MacBook Air and iMac before leaving the executive team in 2013. He had actually wanted to retire a year earlier but Tim Cook talked him out it, getting nine more months of service out of Mansfield before he left.
Now "people familiar with the matter" say he's back, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apparently all senior managers working on Project Titan report to Mansfield. Though Apple has never publicly acknowledged that it's working on the project, it's believed that several veterans in the auto industry and battery technology experts are part of the team.
As might be expected, Project Titan has proven anything but easy. It's faced several problems and challenges, one of them being the departure of Steve Zadesky in January of this year. Zadesky, who previously worked at Ford, led Apple's EV effort at the time.
Mansfield brings some stability back to the project. The aforementioned sources say there are hundreds of people working to make Apple's EV car a reality, though whether or not it's still on track for a 2020 release isn't clear.
