Apple is looking to purchase "large expanses of real estate" in the San Francisco Bay Area for its much-rumored car project, codenamed Project Titan,
according to
The Wall Street Journal. Google parent company Alphabet and several car manufacturers, such as Tesla and Mercedes Benz, are also on the hunt for more space, according to Hudson Pacific, one of the Bay Area's largest landlords.
Map of Apple's newly-purchased real estate in San Jose
While the size Coleman references is fairly big, car production plants tend to be even larger. Tesla's Fremont, California factory is 5.3 million square feet while Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan plant, one of its smaller factories, is 2.9 million square feet. For comparison, Apple's new headquarters is 2.8 million square feet while Google's Mountain View campus is 4.8 million square feet.
In recent months Apple has been leasing more space repeatedly for its car project in the Bay Area. In March, Apple
leased a former Pepsi bottling plant in Sunnyvale, California. The Cupertino company has also leased and purchased several
smaller, secret buildings likely being used to develop Apple Car technologies. In January, Apple
gained approval from the San Jose city council to develop a 4.15 million-square-foot campus in the city.
The WSJ also notes that Apple is in the process of growing its Apple Car team, which had 600 employees last year. Earlier today, it was reported that Apple had
hired a former Google employee with experience in electric vehicle charging.
Article Link:
Apple Seeking 'Large Expanses of Real Estate' for Autonomous Car Project