Apple Cancels Self-Driving Vehicle Testing Permit in California After Abandoning Car Project

[MacRumors]

Just over six months after Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple abandoned its plans to release an electric vehicle, California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) canceled Apple's autonomous vehicle testing permit, according to macReports.

The report states that the DMV received confirmation from Apple to cancel the permit on September 25, and the permit became canceled as of September 27. While this decision is not surprising given Gurman's reporting earlier this year, this is effectively the final nail in the coffin for Apple's decade-long electric vehicle project.

The permit allowed Apple to test a self-driving vehicle with a safety driver on any public road within California. Apple received the permit in 2017, and macReports said that it would have been active until April 30, 2025 had it not been canceled.

Apple was using leased Lexus SUVs equipped with an array of sensors and cameras to test various autonomous driving technologies on California streets.

Read our Apple Car roundup for more details about the canceled project.

Article Link: Apple Cancels Self-Driving Vehicle Testing Permit in California After Abandoning Car Project

 

[Darren.h]

Just buy Tesla Apple. Elon is a jerk anyway.

 

[AppleTO]

That's a CarPlay 2.0 photo, is it not? Not that we'll probably ever see that anyways.

 

[vertsix]

By the looks of it, Vision Pro is next.

 

[breenmask]

FYI: Apple cancelled the car project after realizing what Tesla was working on with the robotaxi and the robovan.

Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1844636946309747002

All other players in the market are headed towards extinction. Waymo too. Their only hope is to license FSD from Tesla.

Sorry, but it's just facts.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Apple was NEVER going to build a car.

I've been saying that for what feels like a decade at this point. It was somebody's pet project that was NEVER going to be a product.

 

[breenmask]

Apple was NEVER going to build a car.

I've been saying that for what feels like a decade at this point. It was somebody's pet project that was NEVER going to be a product.

Yeah because they poached Doug Field (key head engineer guy for Model 3) from Tesla to never build a car, right?

 

[Gloor]

Goes to show that even Apple can't pull such a monstrous project off with all their money. Shame, I was looking forward to a fresh design take on cars.

Anyway, Tesla will take over the rest.

 

[Gloor]

You are mistaken. Even Steve Jobs wanted to build a car.

Apple was NEVER going to build a car.

I've been saying that for what feels like a decade at this point. It was somebody's pet project that was NEVER going to be a product.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Apple was NEVER going to build a car.

I've been saying that for what feels like a decade at this point. It was somebody's pet project that was NEVER going to be a product.

I think Apple acquiring Tesla was a major possibility in 2016-2018. When Tesla became consistently profitable and their stock price shot up 15x, that killed Apple's appetite to acquire them.

 

[minimo3]

Just buy Tesla Apple. Elon is a jerk anyway.

You almost need a jerk leader to build revolutionary products - Elon alone has Tesla, spaceX and starlink. Then there’s Steve Jobs and Sam Altman for OpenAI as further examples. If you’re a “nice” leader that bows to public opinion you get today’s Google with Sundar Pichai, todays Apple with Tim Cook and the Chevy Blazer with Mary Barra. You must make your own decision if you want awesome products or pleasant CEOs

 

[antiprotest]

The end of a non-era.

 

[F23]

Tim Cook's biggest failure. Shame on you Timmy.

 

[mxrider88]

After seeing Tesla robocab they had a meeting and decided to focus on emojis

 

[prayingnantes]

Would have loved to see Apple's take on this space. Sad we will never see it. Apple should buy Rivian.

 

[pianophile]

Disappointed that Apple didn't carry on with this project. I was imagining an Apple fleet vehicle rather than an individually owned car. Something a person could summon with their iPhone, ride somewhere driverlessly, and send away after payment. Feels like an Apple sort of project, and Apple has the money to pursue it as long as it takes.

 

[ANDJOE]

Tim Cook's biggest failure. Shame on you Timmy.

Shame for what exactly?

 

[RavynArcadia]

That was for the best.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

Just buy Tesla Apple. Elon is a jerk anyway.

Jerks get stuff done.


See: Steve Jobs

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Tim Cook's biggest failure. Shame on you Timmy.

I don't see this as a failure. Knowing when to hit the brakes is an important part of being a leader.

 

[Mr_Ed]

All other players in the market are headed towards extinction. Waymo too. Their only hope is to license FSD from Tesla.

Sorry, but it's just facts.

Does “all other players” include the auto manufacturers in your estimation. Probably not.

As long as Elon believes the FSD system needs data only from cameras, others will surpass what Tesla can offer. It’s just a matter of time. No established auto manufacturer is going to do what Musk did and claim they can offer autonomous driving years before it was feasible. Rest assured they are working the problem, and they are treating it with the seriousness it deserves rather than as a snake oil pitch.

 

[Plutonius]

Why pay for a permit when you have no plans on needing it ?

 

[otozuz]

By the looks of it, Vision Pro is next.

I think the long-term vision of light and average-looking glasses with augmented reality is still very interesting. If you think about a spectrum that goes from glasses to headset, I'm still not sure why Apple went all the way to the headset side. The only reasons I can think of are:

1. It's still going to take many years to get to glasses, and they didn't want to stay out of the game in terms of hype, which could also explain why they packed crazy technology in the Vision Pro, almost as a show-off.
2. A lot of the technology in the Vision Pro will evolve and be included in the glasses (no idea what, as I'm not an engineer)

Meta, with Orion, really showed something very interesting, and they also say it's at least 3 years from being sold as a product.

 

[Newbee2025]

Our dreams of owning an apple car are gone forever. Thanks apple!

 

[Karllake]

All other players in the market are headed towards extinction. Waymo too. Their only hope is to license FSD from Tesla.

Sorry, but it's just facts.

The apple car thing never made sense, like Apple televisions, the market is flooded and the margins are small, this isn’t apples market.

I can see how Apple thought the automakers would be slow and poor at software. Apple was likely aiming at selling the self drive software to existing manufacturers. A bit like the ATV box approach.

Tesla might have been what sank the project as they were doing both and Apple wouldn’t have been able to charge a premium.