According to sources close to Bloomberg, Apple has begun development of an all-electric self-driving car. In the report, Mark Garman states that a team of hardware engineers is developing the drive system, interior and exterior design, and continues to hire former Tesla employees.

According to sources claiming that Garman is an Apple engineer, the Cupertino-based company believes it can release a true Apple car in the next five to seven years. That timeline could shift because the development of self-driving technology is very complex and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has engineers working at home.

Tesla has some self-driving capabilities, but Apple is said to be aiming for something more futuristic. Apple's goal is truly autonomous driving.

According to a Bloomberg report, "A key differentiator would be Apple's ability to integrate self-driving systems. This expensive initiative is spurring the company to develop its own software, sensor hardware, and chip technology. The goal, according to people familiar with the project, is to let the user enter a destination and have it drive there with little or no involvement.

Achieving this level of autonomous driving is not only difficult, but also tremendously expensive. After all, the world we live in is complex and there are many variables that cannot be explained. The human brain can quickly assess a situation and react accordingly, even if it has never personally been in such a situation. Computer code makes that difficult.

Uber reportedly spent $1 billion on autonomous driving technology to remove contract drivers from the ride-hailing equation; Uber has since sold its self-driving business to Aurora, which develops self-driving technology.

Apple may outsource the manufacturing of Apple cars to third-party companies, similar to the manufacturing of the iPhone. Alternatively, if Apple decides not to manufacture the car, it may sell the technology to another automaker.

For now, however, Apple is focusing on car interiors. The "small hardware team . . trying to reshape car interiors for a future where people ride passively rather than steer," Bloomberg reported.

Overall, Apple has had an odd flirtation with transportation: in 2016, the company ramped up hiring for its car projects, but scaled back and cut hundreds of jobs by 2019. Yet hundreds of members are still part of the team, and Apple continues to hire engineers.

Apple has been testing self-driving cars on California roads since 2017. On average, the cars were able to travel 118 miles before a human safety driver became involved with the vehicle. According to the California DMV, its test fleet currently consists of 66 vehicles.