Apple has hired former Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Chris Porritt to work on “special projects,” reports Electrek , a sister site to 9to5Mac. Porritt has also worked at Aston Martin as a chief engineer, and had a part in designing the Aston Martin DB9, the One-77 supercar and the V12 Zagato.
Steve Zadesky, who had been in charge of running Apple’s codenamed “Project Titan” car division according to The Wall Street Journal, left the company in the beginning of 2016. The same report states that Zadesky was asked to triple the size of his automotive-focused team last September, after the division had trouble meeting Apple’s expectations.
Apple supposedly was pushing the six-hundred-person team to meet a 2019 release deadline. Porritt will now enter Apple as a “Special Projects Group PD Administrator,” and is likely Zadesky’s replacement. 9to5Mac has confirmed that several senior Apple engineers will report to Porritt, including one who worked closely with Zadesky.
A German daily newspaper recently reported that Apple has built a secret lab for its car division in Berlin, and is considering using Magna International as the contract-base manufacturer to create the car. Magna specializes in building limited-edition vehicles for high-end luxury automobile brands, including Mini Clubman, Mini Paceman and the BMW X3.
While Apple has hired Tesla employees before, Porritt is the first high level executive to jump ship from Tesla to Apple.
