Apple Inc. has reportedly hired Chris Porritt, who previously worked for Aston Martin as chief engineer and Tesla as vice president of vehicle engineering. Porritt has said to have worked on Tesla's Model S, X and 3 and on One-77 supercar, the iconic DB9 and V12 Zagato at Aston Martin. In Apple, he will work with "special projects," in lieu of Steve Zadesky who previously spearheaded the company's Titan, the codename of its electric car project.
There have been some job poaching issues between Apple Inc. and Tesla Motors. Prior to Porritt, Apple had hired engineers from the automotive company, not top executives - until now. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla jokingly called Apple "The Tesla Graveyard," for hiring the people they have fired when the smartphone maker's electric car program "Project Titan" commenced.
Apple will reportedly release the first electric car in 2019 or 2020. The vehicle may not be self-driving, though many believe that the iPhone maker is developing that technology.
Porritt was a key engineer in the UK automotive industry prior to his transfer to Silicon Valley. He started at Land Rover in 1987 as an intern and was promoted in 1997 to Principal Engineer in Vehicle Dynamics. He then went on to work for Aston Martin as Chief Engineer, then joined Tesla in 2013.
Porrit's title is "Special Projects Group PD Administrator," a deliberately vague title, according to AppleInsider. He would be among the most senior car experts at the Cupertino tech firm with Zadesky out of the picture as he reportedly left the company earlier this year. Hence, the most qualified candidate to take over Project Titan, which falls under "special projects."
The leap Tesla to Apple by Porritt was not direct but with a few months in between. Some high-level engineers will be reporting to him, one of whom is Emery Sanford, who is said to have worked directly with Zadesky and has several patents to his credit.
Apple's Chief Designer Jony Ive is known to own a few Ashton Martin cars as he is said to have a weak spot for the UK car maker. Steve MacManus, also a former Aston Martin chief engineer joined Tesla as Vice President of Engineering when Porritt left, Electrek reported.
Tesla CEO Musk is fine with Apple making electric cars, as the following video features.