The development of electric vehicles->ke1030 started out within the auto industry, but as the popularity of these cars continue to grow, development has stretched well past the confines of the auto world. We already know that Apple is on the path towards developing its own EV with what has been referred to as “Project Titan.” Not much has been detailed about the project, but new information has been brought to light by analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray regarding Project Titan.

According to Munster, Apple has has more than 1,000 people working on the project, signifying a serious intent to push the development of Project Titan to meet its deadline. The tech giant is keen on having the vehicle ready to make its debut in 2019 or 2020 with an eye towards sales beginning in 2021. A price tag of $75,000 has also been thrown out for the Apple electric car, making it slightly more affordable than the base Tesla Model S. Considering that the timetable is still five years away, it’s unlikely the price has been set in stone.

As expected, Apple is heavily invested on the design of its electric car and there’s no indication that the company would outsource this part of the project to anybody else. That said, the actual build of the car is expected to be outsourced considering that the tech firm doesn’t have the machinery to build volume cars on its own. No automaker has been linked to this project, which could mean Apple has a lot of choices on where and how it plans to build the car.

On that note, the whole project is still far from a slam dunk. At any point in time, it could be delayed or scrapped altogether. It’s unlikely it will end up that way considering how much time and resources Apple has invested to move the project forward. But the auto industry can be unforgiving, especially to companies that aren’t entrenched in the business. Munster said that he’s “relatively optimistic” that the EV has a chance of ending up in production, but a lot of that optimism depends on whether Apple is as resolved to making Project Titan work as a lot of us have been led to believe.

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Why it matters

This is one of those things that’s a little tricky to comment on considering that the major player involved isn’t an automaker. It’s hard to say how invested Apple really is in this project. I am comforted knowing this is Apple we’re talking about here. Apple, by and large, is considered as one of the companies that’s largely responsible for the evolution of today’s ever-connected society. So on one hand, this isn’t a cash-strapped niche automaker that has a project that relies on an absurdly high amount of luck to go its way. Apple has the money to get this to work, even if many of the resources must be outsourced.

That leads me to the other hand, which is pretty simple. Apple isn’t a car company. It’s never been one and unless this project pushes through, it’ll never be one. It’s going to be very easy for the company to just drop the project altogether if it doesn’t think that it’s worth it. That’s where my uncertainty lies, even though by all accounts, the company seems to be eager to see this project until the end.

I just wish there was a way to accurately measure Apple’s dedication to this project. A statement from one of its execs would certainly go a long way in accomplishing that. But so far, the company has stayed true to form by remaining very tight-lipped on Project Titan. It’s actually smart for Apple to be quite. To do otherwise would set consumer and industry expectations, but then again, a little nod towards how far it’s come in the project shouldn’t hurt either, right?

For now, we’re all in the same place here. We know that Apple is developing an electric vehicle. We also know that it’s serious about the development so far. What we don’t know is how far it’s come. All those answers should come soon enough, although knowing Apple, it’s definition of “soon enough” changes about as often as the phases of the moon.