Impressive reporting by Jordan Kahn and Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac. Something is going on. The big tell, to me, is Lauren Ciminera:

Lauren Ciminera (new hire). Joining Apple back in September, Lauren Ciminera is likely playing a role in recruiting employees for Apple’s project after leaving a position as Tesla’s Lead Recruiter to join the company. Before joining Apple, Ciminera was responsible for hiring manufacturing and mechanical engineers globally at Tesla.

Why poach Tesla’s lead recruiter unless you were building an electric car?

See also:

I’ve been pretty skeptical about this Apple car rumor, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And all of a sudden there is a lot of smoke in the air on this one.

★ Thursday, 19 February 2015