We’re far away from the often-hyped Apple car.
The often-hyped, long-rumored Apple car will be a Euro-bred Volkswagen van, according to a recent report.
Apple shelved its grandiose plans to build an autonomous car from scratch and started looking for a partner with a turn-key product and manufacturing expertise. Volkswagen has allegedly agreed to supply Apple with its Transporter van (pictured) for the self-driving shuttle conversion. Neither company has commented on the report.
What happens next is up in the air. Sources familiar with the plans told the New York Times the project is running far behind schedule. They also added the project “lacks a clear plan beyond the vans, including any near-term commercial coals.” For now, it sounds like the autonomous vans will merely ferry passengers between Apple’s two campuses in Silicon Valley.
The Transporter, a descendant of the original Volkswagen Bus and the more recent Eurovan, is a common sight around Europe, where it’s used both as a work van and as a people-carrier. It’s not sold in the United States, though.
Apple will work with Volkswagen-owned Italdesign to make several changes to the van, including installing a redesigned dashboard and Apple-specific seats. The conversion also involve ditching the internal combustion engine and replacing it with an electric drivetrain. The swap will be easier said than done because the Transporter wasn’t designed with a large battery pack in mind.
Apple and Italdesign originally planned to deliver the first van by the end of 2018.
The often-hyped, long-rumored Apple car will be a Euro-bred Volkswagen van, according to a recent report.
Apple shelved its grandiose plans to build an autonomous car from scratch and started looking for a partner with a turn-key product and manufacturing expertise. Volkswagen has allegedly agreed to supply Apple with its Transporter van (pictured) for the self-driving shuttle conversion. Neither company has commented on the report.
What happens next is up in the air. Sources familiar with the plans told the New York Times the project is running far behind schedule. They also added the project "lacks a clear plan beyond the vans, including any near-term commercial coals." For now, it sounds like the autonomous vans will merely ferry passengers between Apple's two campuses in Silicon Valley.
The Transporter, a descendant of the original Volkswagen Bus and the more recent Eurovan, is a common sight around Europe, where it's used both as a work van and as a people-carrier. It's not sold in the United States, though.
Apple will work with Volkswagen-owned Italdesign to make several changes to the van, including installing a redesigned dashboard and Apple-specific seats. The conversion also involve ditching the internal combustion engine and replacing it with an electric drivetrain. The swap will be easier said than done because the Transporter wasn't designed with a large battery pack in mind.
Apple and Italdesign originally planned to deliver the first van by the end of 2018.
