Skip to main content

Tesla keeps hiring more ex-Apple employees to help with autonomous car design

Tesla Autopilot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Tesla is starting to look a lot like Apple — not in its products, per se, but rather in its team.

Continuing its trend of hiring former Apple employees, Tesla has hired a new vice president for its Autopilot efforts. Chris Lattner is the latest to jump ship from Apple and his departure marks the end of an 11-year career at the Cupertino-based tech firm. During this time, Lattner was key in creating Swift, the company’s programming language that can be used to build apps for MacOS, iOS, and more.

In a blog post announcing the addition of Lattner to the team, the company noted that his new role would be to “lead our Autopilot engineering team and accelerate the future of autonomous driving.” The addition of Lattner to the team ought to help Tesla significantly in its quest to form fully self-driving cars, as CEO Elon Musk has noted that he’d like to have an autonomous vehicle make a coast-to-coast test drive by the end of 2017.

But Lattner isn’t the only ex-Apple guy to be switching allegiances. Matt Casebolt, formerly a director of product design at Apple who worked on the Mac Pro and the new MacBook is also a new addition to the Tesla team. Based on his LinkedIn profile, he began serving as Tesla’s director of engineering for closures and mechanisms in December.

Apple's Mac Pro, Touch Bar MacBook and original Air designer, Matt Casebolt, will now be designing Teslas https://t.co/N71takpJI5 pic.twitter.com/Jm1UHGXf5H

— 9to5Mac (@9to5mac) January 11, 2017

Previously, Musk has called Apple “the Tesla graveyard” as it seems that the electronics company has a penchant for hiring former employees of the car company. But clearly, there is a two-way street between the two companies, one that is benefiting Tesla quite a bit for the time being.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Volvo’s much-anticipated EX30 EV to reach U.S. before year end
Front three quarter view of the 2025 Volvo EX30.

Volvo is switching gears again, this time to accelerate deliveries of its much-anticipated EX30 subcompact electric SUV so that it reaches the U.S. before the end of 2024.

The Swedish automaker last summer had postponed the U.S. launch of the EX30 to 2025, citing “changes in the global automotive landscape." The move followed the Biden administration’s 100% import tariff on electric vehicles made in China.

Read more
Rivian R2 EV’s new LG battery boosts storage capacity sixfold
Rivian R2

The Rivian R2, the EV maker’s much-anticipated affordable electric SUV, will be powered by U.S.-made batteries promising to store six times as much energy as those currently used.

South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions announced it will be supplying LG’s 4695 cylindrical batteries to Rivian as part of a five-year agreement.

Read more
Scout Terra vs. Tesla Cybertruck: retro and futuristic, head to head
Scout Motors Terra driving front

Scout Motors is back. The classic brand has been reinvigorated under Volkswagen Group, and not only that, but it has already announced two new vehicles that it plans to launch in the next few years. Of the two, the Scout Terra is the electric truck, and it's built to offer a modern design with an excellent range and fast performance.

But how does the Scout Terra compare with another popular electric truck, the Tesla Cybertruck? While the Scout Terra is set to be much cheaper than the Cybertruck is now, it's entirely possible that by the time the Terra is released, it could have a higher price tag than expected, while Tesla lowers the price tag of the Cybertruck. Is one of these trucks objectively better? We put the two head-to-head to find out.
Design
The Scout Terra and the Tesla Cybertruck arguably couldn't be further apart in terms of design. Of course, variation is a good thing, at least as long as both options are solid under the hood too.

Read more