While Tesla has the leg up in the technology of the electric car world, Apple could very quickly catch up with the $178 billion in cash it is sitting on. The company has been hiring battery, car and robotics experts, and there are an expected 200 engineers working on the project now.
In fact, Apple has been so aggressive in hiring, that has been accused of "poaching" employees from battery maker A123 Systems and others like LG Chem, Samsung, Panasonic and Johnson Controls. Experienced car makers take about 5 to 7 years to bring a new concept and vehicle to market, says industry experts, but Apple has no experience in the space and is still trying to keep the same time frame.
As with all other Apple products, we will not have any confirmation on whether Apple is actually making the product until the day it's released.
(The pic is a random concept art, but hey it looks cool)