Apple is working on a self-driving car project, and may have made more progress on the car than previously thought, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
The newspaper said it has seen correspondence between Apple and a high-security test site near San Francisco, regarding a test location.
Apple has rumoured to be working on a self-driving car, apparently under the code name ‘Project Titan’ and has held meetings with automotive manufacturers and recruited engineers in this field, but the test site communication is the first confirmation of the project.
The Special Project group at Apple had contacted the test centre, GoMentum Station, a former weapons testing facility which now offers test facilities for connected vehicle (CV) applications and autonomous vehicles (AV). The GoMentum Station has over 20 miles of paved roads and streets for testing, and is still guarded by the military, offering a high degree of privacy and security.
Apple declined to comment on the news, while GoMentum confirmed Apple’s interest in the facility but said it had signed a non-disclosure agreement and could not comment further.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple has reportedly met with executives from a number of car companies recently, including Fiat-Chrysler, and it has also hired engineers from Tesla Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and electric car battery maker A123 Systems.
