Image credit – Bloomberg
While it was long rumored that Apple is interested in developing a full-fledged car, the company only seems to be working on self-driving car technology that it might end up selling to conventional car manufacturers. Its self-driving car technology testbed, a Lexus RX450h SUV retrofitted with cameras, radars, sensors, and other gadgets was first spotted on public roads in California last year in April. The company is now expanding its self-driving car fleet to 27 vehicles.
Apple initially received a permit to test three self-driving cars in California last year. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has confirmed to Bloomberg that Apple has now registered 24 additional autonomous Lexus RX450h SUVs.
This means that Apple can now have 27 test vehicles out on roads in California as it continues to work on its self-driving car technology. While that might sound like a lot of cars, it’s nowhere near the number of cars companies like Waymo have been permitted to test. Alphabet’s Waymo has hundreds of self-driving cars being tested on public roads in multiple states across the country.
It’s going to take a long time for Apple to catch up with these companies but the expansion of its fleet is an indication that the company remains committed to its self-driving technology project and that’s a good sign.
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