Apple has reportedly done "much of the core work" needed on a new processor that will power a future autonomous electric car.

The car is being developed by Apple as part of a secretive project internally called Titan. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, since Apple's silicon team is nearly finished working on the car's processor, the company's target for debuting the autonomous EV can be moved up to just four years from now.

Gurman described the chip as the "most advanced component" it's made for the project to date. The company is planning to test the chip in its fleet of test vehicles in California and ultimately aims to provide "stronger safeguards than what’s available from Tesla and Waymo", according to the report.

Project Titan, otherwise referred to as Apple Car, has evolved quite a bit over the past several years. Currently, Apple is thought to be designing an autonomous car without a steering wheel. The interior is roomy, complete with a large, iPad-style touchscreen display that runs an iOS-like user interface.

Ideally, the car will be sold to consumers - or that's the "more likely scenario", Gurman reported. Apple wants to make the vehicle compatible with the combined charging system standard, so it can use most public fast-charging stations.

For a look at some of the more interesting EVs, both existing and upcoming, see Pocket-lint's guides below: