Remember that mysterious Dodge Caravan kitted out with multiple cameras cruising the streets or Northern California last week? The fact that it was actually leased to Apple managed to not only turn a few heads, but also got a few tongues wagging about the possibility of Tim Cook’s company working on a next-generation vehicle to extend its current product offering.
Now, to add further fuel to the rapidly burning furnace, an Apple employee has provided details to Business Insider claiming that his company is working internally on a project that could potentially “give Tesla a run for its money”.
Like most other outlets, it listened to the experts and speculated that the mysterious Dodge Caravan looked remarkably similar to a self-driving test vehicle that had been spotted in New York in September 2014. This led to the extremist hypothesis that Apple could be in partnership with a company legally licensed to test vehicles of this nature on public roads, although a more likely explanation is that the vehicle was being used as part of a mapping project. However, this may not be the case with more information coming to light thanks to an entirely out of the blue email from the aforementioned, and currently unnamed, Apple employee:
Apple’s latest project is too exciting to pass up, I think it will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.
There’s currently no suggestion that Apple is planning on going head-to-head with Tesla by making a premium, full-featured electric vehicle, nor is there any real evidence to suggest it is experimenting with self-driving cars. The more likely explanation is that this exciting new project is somehow related to the advancement of CarPlay, potentially expanding the in-car system that is based on iOS to include advanced features similar to what Tesla currently offers with its intelligent dashboard setup. Those who are lucky enough to own a Tesla are able to utilize the accompanying iPhone app to interact with the vehicle to turn the heating off or lock / unlock the car.
History has taught us that anything is possible with Apple and potential projects, and if anyone has the internal resources to embark on an ambitious car-related project, it’s Apple. Still, given the fact that the Apple employee failed to actually go into any revealing details, the potential exists that the project could have nothing at all to do with vehicles.
(Source: BusinessInsider)
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