Apple Stock News

Reports surfaced earlier this week that Apple had started a team charged with designing an electric car to take on Tesla and other automobile designers. Rumors circulated that Apple had hired people from the automotive industry and seems poised to build an automobile that may or may not drive itself. A123 Systems, a lithium-ion battery maker for electric cars and other business sectors, is suing Apple for what it alleges is an aggressive campaign to poach employees.

Technologies like the ones developed at A123 Systems would be key to getting an electric car effort on the road. Apple hired five employees from A123 Systems to perform the same jobs in violation of noncompete and nondisclosure agreements. The battery maker says Apple’s efforts threaten its business and leave it scrambling for replacements. Apple has hundreds of employees working on a secret project code-named “Titan” that included initial design work on a vehicle that resembles a minivan.

Its not completely certain that the A123 Systems employees hired by Apple are working on the company’s secret car project, as Apple won’t comment and is constantly improving its technology and working on a wide array of battery improvements for its future devices. The lawsuit claims they are, however, stating that Apple is currently developing a large scale battery division to compete with A123 Systems. This provides further evidence that Apple has an electric car in mind.