Apple Car Confirmed by Elon Musk, Calls Project an 'Open Secret'

Mac Rumors recently reported the registration of several internet domains involving Apple and cars including apple.auto, apple.car and apple.cars. The addresses are currently empty but they have fueled speculations that the Cupertino company is attempting to manufacture their own vehicle.

The Mac news site believes the domains may be used for Apple's app CarPlay although the concept of a running vehicle is not surprising to Tesla's Elon Musk. He calls Apple's project an "open secret."

During an interview with BBC, Tesla's CEO said, "It's pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it."

Reports indicate that Apple has been more aggressive in hiring more engineers. According to the Apple rumor site, engineers from Ford, GM, Mission Motors and even electronic companies such as Samsung and NVIDIA are being recruited to work on "Project Titan."

CNET said, earlier last year, Apple was also rumored to have been scouring the area of Concord, California for a possible driving site for a self-driving car.

Although the theorized vehicle is expected to compete with Tesla, the popular electric car manufacturer does not see it as a threat. Surprisingly, Musk welcomes the competition as he believes "it will expand the industry."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has yet to confirm or refute the speculations.

As of the moment, the Apple rumor website sees the Apple Car being in the preliminary stages of development with expected shipping dates in 2019 or 2020.

Regardless of what Apple's plans are, Musk said Tesla will continue to create electric vehicles, even "helping other companies to make electric cars as well."

The iPhone maker is not the only company expanding its reach to automobiles. Google is apparently following suit, acquiring domains such as google.car and google.auto, according to ZDNet.

Compared to Apple, however, rumors are circulating that Google intends to work with an established automobile maker. Ford is still open to talks with the search engine giant, said the CBS Interactive site ZDNet.

Autonomous cars are fast becoming the standard. During the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, CNET noted the emergence of more autonomous cars.

Musk believes the trend is moving toward producing more electric and self-driving cars. The BBC report said he sees driving in the future as a hobby, "Owning a car that is not self-driving in the long term will be like owning a horse - you would own it and use it for sentimental reasons but not for daily use."