Recharge Wrap-up: Haunted Teslas? Faraday Future nabs Apple’s Nabbe

Passersby have reported seeing Tesla vehicles flash their lights seemingly at random when nobody else is around. Are the cars becoming sentient and acting of their own accord (something that would likely horrify Tesla CEO Elon Musk)? Let’s hope not. The actual leading theory is that these cars are flashing their lights when they receive over-the-air updates, which would especially make sense for the multitude of vehicles parked at a Tesla Service Center. Regardless of the cause, it’s giving people the willies. See the mysterious phenomenon in the video above, and read more at Electrek.

Tesla’s Maps/Navigation Senior Engineering Manager Bill Chen has left the company. It’s unclear whether Chen left of his own accord or was terminated by Tesla, but after two years on the team, Tesla has confirmed he is no longer at the company. Chen worked at Apple on its Maps team prior to his tenure at the electric automaker. At Tesla, he worked on high-precision mapping, and some fear this speaks negatively to the company’s Autopilot campaign. Read more from The Information, or at Electrek.

Relatedly, Apple vehicle navigations specialist Bart Nabbe has left the company to work for Faraday Future. Nabbe, who was a member of Apple’s «Special Projects» division, has become Faraday Future’s director of strategy partnerships. The EV startup has also recently poached Tesla’s James Chen, as well as the chief engineer of GM’s EV1, Peter Savagian, BMW i8 designer Richard Kim, and former Ferrari executive Marco Mattiacci. Read more at Apple World Today, or at Apple Insider.