Apple Car: Has the company leased a former Pepsi bottling plant in Sunnyvale for its electric car project?

The Apple Car rumours just refuse to die out. According to a new report that has surfaced, a 96,000sqft industrial property in Sunnyvale, California, which earlier housed a Pepsi bottling plant, has been leased by Apple Inc specifically for the Apple Car project.

The Silicon Valley Biz Journal reports that although the lease was finalised in November 2015, it was not widely known. However, its existence has now been disclosed in a loan document on file with the county clerk's office filed on 22 February, which the journal has accessed. The report shows that Pepsi operated on the property until 2013, after which it has been lying vacant.

What makes the suspicion of Apple using this property for its much-talked-about electric car project strong is that the company has already leased an 80,257sqft property as well as a 140,000sqft building, both within 10 minutes walking distance from this warehouse property.

In February, neighbours of one these Apple properties, which has been rumoured to be the electric car testing facility, had evidently reported loud "motor noises" coming from the property on several occasions. The noise was so loud that they decided to complain to local officials

Apple is rumoured to have hired hundreds of people for this project, many of whom were allegedly poached from Tesla, a claim that Apple has denied. Tesla motor CEO Elon Musk had mentioned: "It was no secret that Apple was in fact developing an electric car."