Apple has hired former Lamborghini Chassis and Vehicle Engineer, Luigi Taraborrelli, who oversaw projects such as the Urus, Huracan and Aventador. The hire speaks to the history of the two brands, a partnership with roots that date back to 2020 when Lamborghini released an Apple-based augmented reality feature to preview the Huracan EVO RWD Spyder from your living room.
During the release of the augmented reality project, Apple’s Phil Schiller stated, “Apple and Lamborghini share a great passion for design and innovation. We are excited to support the launch of the new Lamborghini with Apple’s augmented reality technology so that their fans around the world can experience it from the safety of their own homes.”
Related: Someone modified their Audi A4 to look like an R8 and it’s pretty legit.
Image: Vanarama | “Hopefully the Apple Car looks nothing like this…”
Is the Apple Car Actually Happening Now?
Apple’s electric car project – codename ‘Project Titan’ – remains shrouded in secrecy, but there are a few things we do know based on reports by Bloomberg, The Verge, and The Wall Street Journal. The latest is the hiring of former Lamborghini Chassis and Apple Made $9 Billion Removing Chargers, Report Claims Engineer, Luigi Taraborrelli, who oversaw projects such as the Urus, Huracan and Aventador.
Who Else Has Apple Hired For the Car Project?
With the plan to introduce an autonomous electric vehicle by 2025, Apple went about hiring hundreds of former engineers from leading car manufacturers including Tesla, Rivian, Waymo, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. They also hired senior design executives from Tesla, McLaren, Porsche and Aston Martin, as reported by Bloomberg.
No matter where you sit on the autonomous vehicle fence it’s encouraging to know that Apple has enlisted talents such as Stuart Bower (former Tesla Autopilot chief) and vocal software engineer Christopher “CJ” Moore whose most impressive feat outside of engineering is standing up to his boss Elon Musk and cutting down claims that a ‘fully autonomous’ Tesla would arrive before the end of 2021 – hint, hint, we’re still years away.
That hasn’t stopped the brand from losing key talent, including the former head of the project, Doug Field, who was originally poached from Tesla before moving on to Ford Motor Company in the role of Chief Office for EVs and Digital System. They also lost artificial intelligence specialist, Ian Goodfellow, as he moved on to DeepMind.
Kevin Lynch is the current head of the Apple Car project and also juggles Apple Watch and health software.
Faced with the turmoil that’s threatened to derail the project since its 2014 inception, it’s safe to say the Apple Car is in a make-or-break stage. The hiring of Taraborrelli to oversee aspects of the project is an encouraging one, it speaks to the history the two brands share together, with Apple’s head of marketing once stating that Apple “cares deeply” about Lamborghini.
Will we see the Apple Car arrive by 2025, or is this just another Cyber Truck?
Image: Vanarama | “What the Apple Car could look like”
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