Apple has officially contacted the California DMV and requested that the manufacturer’s testing permit for the self-driving car program be revoked, effective September 27th. If they did not request cancellation, their permit would have been valid until April 30, 2025 (via macReports).
Allow cancellation
The news comes about eight months after Apple officially canceled the Apple Car project internally. Considering the fact that the permit is directly related to the project, this is probably one of the biggest external signs that the project has been cancelled. A public warning notice, which businesses are required to do if they intend to lay off more employees, was also filed.
Apple requested the permit be revoked on September 25th, and it was officially revoked on September 27th, just weeks before Tesla announced its vision of a fully self-driving car with no steering wheel or pedals.
Apple Car Plan
Previously, Apple was widely expected to be developing some kind of self-driving electric car, known internally as “Project Titan.” The company originally planned to ship the vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, but scaled back those plans in later years before officially canceling it earlier this year. The vehicle was expected to cost more than $100,000 and be delivered in 2028.
tesla cyber cab
Just a few days ago, Tesla announced its own fully self-driving car called CyberCab (or Robotaxi). Although it won’t be shipped “before 2027,” it provides a glimpse into the future of self-driving cars. Personally, I have doubts about whether Tesla will be able to sell these vehicles to consumers given the regulatory hurdles, but the design of the vehicles is appealing.
summary
I wish Apple had still made its own car, because in my opinion it would have been a much more interesting new product category than the Apple Vision Pro, but either way it would have been difficult. Probably. How does Apple service its vehicles? How are they manufactured? There were a lot of unanswered questions about the Apple Car.
Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Threads, Instagram
FTC: We use automated affiliate links that generate income. more.
