Tesla chief expects Apple car by 2020

According to Tesla founder Elon Musk that Apple, and not Google, would one day be an automotive industry contender, but he did not expect Apple's car until 2020.

In an interaction with Re/code's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher during Re/code's Code Conference Musk voiced his support for Apple's as-yet-unannounced efforts, but took a mild jab at the company.

"I think it's great they're doing this, and I hope it works out," he said. "It's just a missed opportunity. It's a couple years...they'll make a good car and be successful."

Musk said, Apple should have committed to its electric vehicle project sooner, adding that "Apple Car" production is not likely to start before 2020. The estimate squares with rumours last year, which claimed Apple's car would enter manufacturing by 2020, which was an aggressive timeline for a company taking its first crack at a highly competitive heavy industry.

While Musk sees the so-called "Apple Car," hitting the roads, he does not see the same for Google. Musk, like industry watchers, believed that the internet search giant planned to license any technology gleaned from the project to a major automotive manufacturer.

Elon Musk thinks Apple may be too far behind the curve on autonomous cars to catch up to his company.

Meanwhile, commentators point out that while Google had been very open about its testing of driverless vehicles, Apple had to yet publicly state its plans for any type of car.

Autonomous cars had captured the imagination of the car industry, and many automotive companies such as Nissan and Audi, as well as tech firms including Google and Nvidia, were working on the idea.

The concept had the potential to save lives and automakers were currently proceeding in small steps towards more automation in vehicles, such as parallel parking, computer-initiated emergency braking and warnings about shifting lanes.

"I think we're basically less than two years away from complete autonomy," he said, adding that it could be a few more years after that until cars win regulatory approval. "Because [regulators] also want to see billions of miles of data that it is statistically true that autonomous driving is safer."