Tech giant Apple hires former Lamborghini engineer – report

Apple appears to still be considering an autonomous electric car, after reportedly hiring one of Lamborghini’s top engineers.

Tech giant Apple has reportedly signed a former Lamborghini engineer to join the development team of its long-rumoured autonomous car.

News agency Bloomberg reports Apple has employed the head of Lamborghini’s chassis and vehicle dynamics division to join the management team of its autonomous electric car.

Luigi Taraborrelli worked for Lamborghini for more than two decades, most recently on chassis handling for supercars such as the Huracan and Aventador, plus the Urus SUV, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The responsibilities of Mr Taraborrelli’s role in the Apple electric car project remain unclear.

The news comes less than three months after Apple hired a former Ford executive for its autonomous car project, joining a team of engineers from car companies such as Tesla, Volkswagen, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz.

Earlier reports have suggested Apple has been working on its autonomous electric car since 2015, with more than 5000 employees understood to be involved in the project.

While an autonomous vehicle could be revealed as soon as 2025, the project has endured a number of setbacks.

In May 2022, a senior executive of the project and former member of Tesla’s Autopilot development team, Christopher CJ Moore, left Apple to work on lidar-based autonomous driving systems with Luminar Technology.

In February 2021, overseas media reported a potential tie-in with Korean car giant Hyundai-Kia had been cancelled, with rumours suggesting Apple will use LG Magna to produce its autonomous car instead.

Unsubstantiated overseas reports claim the Apple autonomous car – codenamed ‘Titan’ – will not be equipped with pedals or a steering wheel, instead relying on GPS, cameras and other sensors to transport occupants to their destination.

To read more Drive articles on the rumoured Apple car click here.

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