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Apple hired Tesla's VP of Vehicle Engineering, hinting at Apple's car plans

Chris Porritt
YouTube/Tesla Model S

Apple found a new vice president for its secretive electric car project.

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Codenamed Project Titan, Apple's initiative to create an electric car hit a wall when Apple lost Steve Zadesky, the Apple vice president in charge of the initiative. Zadesky, who oversaw the creation of the iPod and iPhone, had been overseeing the Project Titan for two years. Zadesky had reportedly left Apple for "personal reasons."

But Electrek reports that Apple has hired Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, Chris Porritt, to take on Zadesky's role.Porritt worked on Tesla's Model S and Model cars, as well as the Model 3 chassis.

Porritt has also worked at Aston Martin as chief engineer. Coincidentally, Apple designer Jony Ive is a big fan of Aston Martin and has owned a few cars.

In a January BBC interview, Tesla CEO Elon Musk referred to Apple's car project as an "open secret," adding that "we always jokingly call Apple the 'Tesla Graveyard.' If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I'm not kidding."

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Apple did not issue any kind of press release announcing Porritt's hiring, but did confirm to Electrek that Porritt is currently serving the role of Special Projects Group PD Administrator at Apple. It's worth noting that when Apple hired Jamie Carlson, a senior engineer who had been working on Tesla's Autopilot program, he was also listed as a member of the "special projects group."

H/T Electrek

Tesla Apple
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