Apple will take at least half a decade to launch an autonomous, electric vehicle because development work is still at an early stage, according to people with knowledge of the efforts. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has a small team of hardware engineers developing drive systems, vehicle interior and external car body designs with the goal of eventually shipping a vehicle. That's a more ambitious goal than in previous years when the project mostly focused on creating an underlying self-driving system. The company has also added more ex-Tesla Inc. executives to the project.
Still, some Apple engineers on the project believe the company could release a product in five to seven years if Apple goes ahead with its plans. The car is nowhere near production stage, the people said, though they did warn timelines could change. They asked not to be identified discussing sensitive, internal work.
I can't get the Bloomberg article, here's the link https://www.bloomber...t-half-a-decade
Seven years is feasible for a ground up design for an EV, and is generous for a tophat on somebody else's skateboard, assuming existing manufacturing facilities are available. There are many contract car assemblers around the world, Magna being the most well known, or Steyr-Puch (I think it is) slapping together some premium brands.
