What is Apple up to with new car idea?

As the media frenzy builds surrounding a possible Apple electric car by 2020 there are substantial engineering, logistical and manufacturing hurdles that the consumer electronics giant must overcome, according to experts familiar with the worlds of autos and technology.

"Look at the difference in complexity of the two industries' supply chains," said Jay Baron, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "In the average car there are 30,000 parts, and you've got to guarantee that they all work right the first time. With smartphones, I bet it's less than 500 parts."

News that Apple has assigned a couple hundred employees to something called Project Titan has provoked both skeptics and true believers that it will definitely happen. This is a company with $178 billion in cash, or seven times what General Motors held at the end of 2014.

But John Krafcik, former CEO of Hyundai Motor America and currently president of TrueCar, an online auto shopping site, thinks there are at least three routes Apple may take from whatever it learns from its electric car research.

Option 1: Apple could choose not to make a car, Krafcik suggests, but instead learn enough about it to grow demand for their other products.

For example, Apple's CarPlay is an in vehicle system designed to provide easy access to the capabilities of a smartphone while minimizing distractions to use it safely and simply. But so far it hasn't gained much traction because most automakers already have infotainment systems in their newest vehicles.

Ford offers MyFord Touch, General Motors has IntelliLink, Fiat Chrysler has UConnect and Toyota has Entune. Most of these have been met with mixed consumer reaction. While they have been improved upon there are still complaints that their touch-screen controls are not easy to use.

Option 2: Apple could be using Project Titan to find a better way to integrate into vehicles what essentially would be a mobile iPad that could also monitor other systems in the vehicle.

"They also could partner with another company that has experience manufacturing vehicles," Krafcik said. Most of Apple's products are produced by contract manufacturers, mostly in Asia.

Option 3: Krafcik said Apple also might decide to "acquire a manufacturing company. Apple is a master of logistics and global supply sourcing, and they have a global footprint," he said.

Automakers suffer more than electronics companies when they delay the introduction of a new models. Tesla Motors is learning this with its Model X crossover utility vehicle which was originally slated to go on sale in December. Now the company is saying it will be available during the third quarter of 2015.

Krafcik warned that despite those risks Apple has one advantage that no traditional automaker should dismiss.

"One of the greatest barriers to entry in the automotive industry has always been brand building," the former Hyundai executive said. "Based on what it's already achieved Apple blows that barrier away."

Baron, from the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said the most difficult challenge for Apple would be adjusting to the longer product cycles of vehicles that contain more than a series of software apps.

"Your're talking about a product that could be on the road for 15 years vs. 15 months with an iPad or iPhone," Baron said. "If something goes wrong with an iPhone you can just replace it. Look at the ignition switch problem General Motors had last year and that was a company with a century of mass-producing these complex vehicles."

Contact Greg Gardner: (313) 222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12.