Apple might be looking to compete in the electric car market, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report claims Apple's internal 'Project Titan' is focused on making an Apple car, similar to Tesla Motors' Model S.

Apple executive Steve Zadesky--an ex-Ford engineer--is reportedly working with a 1,000 staff team on Project Titan, which CEO Tim Cook signed-off almost a year ago.

Like Us on Facebook

The car resembles a minivan, although it's unknown whether this is a final design or just a prototype for the electric car functionality and software integration.

It's not clear if Apple is working on an electric car for itself, or a platform for electric cars to utilize software. We would expect the former, considering Apple is not a big software developer if it doesn't work with first-party hardware.

Apple and Tesla Motors have been in a poaching war, with Apple's employees moving to Tesla for Elon Musk, and Tesla's employees moving to Apple for a huge incentive payment and salary increase.

Tesla has a similar ideology to Apple of making everything in-house, including the chargers, batteries, software, hardware and car services, giving them full dominion over the Tesla cars.

Even the showrooms are owned by Tesla. This approach allows the company to employ experts on the differences between the Model S and gasoline cars, unlike normal car dealerships that might not be vetted on the specific features.

This fascination over the production line comes from Elon Musk's nano-management and focus on the smaller details, a trait similar to Apple's ex-CEO Steve Jobs.

It will be hard for Apple--even with $180 billion in the bank--to win over the electric cars market from Tesla, BMW and Nissan, all focused on bringing electric cars to the mass market by 2018.

Apple is also apparently working on some autonomous techniques for the electric car, potentially stepping into Google territory.

TagsTesla Model S, tesla motors, Electric Car, Project Titan