Apple to convert 500 VW Golf to e-shuttles
The cooperation between Apple and VW which was announced in May to develop autonomous vehicles is possibly larger than originally anticipated. According to media reports, Apple plans to include 500 modified VW Golf in their testing initiative.
The Californians then plan to install their own EV technology under the Golf hoods, including chassis and drive system. The report is based on information cited by an unnamed source from Silicon Valley. Official statements have not been released on the subject.
In Spring, the announcement had been that Apple would be converting a few T6 transporters to autonomous electric shuttles for their employees. The VW subsidiary Italdesign from the Turin area has now also been integrated into the project under the internal title Jetstream
The integration of the Golf models also speaks for the idea, which Apple has publicly denied, that they have not cancelled their autonomous driving project Titan, which would include the development of their own autonomous EVs. Furthermore, the tech giant has recently submitted a patent under the title Peloton for convoy driving with autonomous electric vehicles.
Additionally, if one is to believe the insiders cited in May, Volkswagen is not Apple’s first choice. According to their anonymous statements, Apple had preferred a premium brand, but had conceded to a more mainstream brand due to time pressure. The Google subsidiary Waymo is also working on autonomous driving for public roads, as are multiple other startups and vehicle manufacturers.. The companies are already now collective excessive amounts of data to improve their technologies.
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