Report: Apple’s Electric Car Will Be Self-Driving

Following yesterday’s unexpected report that Apple is assembling a group to create an electric car, we’ve got much more surprising information: According to unnamed sources within the company, Apple desires that automobile to be self-driving.

Reuters reports today that the California tech giant is gathering details and professionals on auto creating and the nuances of self-driving technology. The report repeats yesterday’s news from The Wall Street Journal, alleging that Apple has plans to create an all-electric car to take on Tesla, and it adds the exciting aspect of self-driving technology to the mix.

“It’s a computer software game. It is all about autonomous driving,” the anonymous insider told Reuters. And that makes sense: As Reuters points out, there’s plenty of cash to be produced on cutting-edge vehicle computer software. A self-driving operating system requires higher-definition mapping, and the electric auto that Apple is allegedly developing will require bespoke computer software. The company’s greatest competitor, Google, has been exploring autonomous automobiles for more than a year.

Apple could be interested in moving into the burgeoning self-driving auto marketplace the way it entered the smartphone and digital music spheres: by creating both hardware and computer software in-residence, rather than pursuing partnerships with current suppliers. “They don’t appear to want a lot of help from carmakers,” stated the Reuters source.

Notably, the tech company hired Johann Jungwirth, former head of investigation and development at Mercedes-Benz, back in September. Jungwirth’s responsibilities over the past 5 years at Mercedes included autonomous driving, connected auto tech, and electric-vehicle powertrain analysis. A Mercedes spokesman told Reuters that the company’s autonomous-auto engineering team remains intact.

An Apple spokesperson declined comment to Reuters.

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Apple’s alleged automotive endeavor, code-named “Project Titan,” could end up poaching numerous authorities from throughout the auto market. According to yesterday’s WSJ report, the team is being led by solution design and style VP Steve Zadesky, a former Ford engineer who’s been authorized to produce a team of up to 1000 men and women.

Report: Apple’s Electric Car Will Be Self-Driving

After Almost a Year, Google Puts Headlights On Its Self-Driving Automobile

Don’t worry about Google’s self-driving car stealing the steering wheel out of your hands just however. The driverless future is nevertheless a long way off, and today’s update from Google only proves that: The firm ultimately decided to place headlights on its autonomous runabout.

In a blog post published nowadays, the Google Self-Driving Auto Project known as this update “the first genuine create of our self-driving vehicle prototype.” That means, in contrast to prior prototypes—the 1st of which we saw in May—this new flivver ultimately has all the requisite technologies packed into 1 car. Y’know, all the tiny stuff, like steering, and brakes, and headlights.

The truth that Google’s project is still in these early stages need to surprise no one. A automobile is an enormously complex collection of myriad systems, every single of which need to be tested and refined individually prior to it can work in concert with the rest. “We’ve been operating on various prototypes-of-prototypes, each and every made to test various systems of a self-driving car—for instance, the common ‘car’ components like steering and braking, as properly as the ‘self-driving’ parts like the pc and sensors,” Google writes.

And all of that iterative pre-research has ultimately led Google to the car you see above: the company’s “first full prototype for fully autonomous driving.” With a smoother housing on its roof-mounted terrain sensors, the aforementioned headlights, and what appears like a more well-appointed interior, today’s updated version appears a bit far more carlike than the hacked-together prototype we saw in Might, shown beneath:

And Google’s original demonstration of the technologies:

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Google says it will continue testing the updated runabout on its test track by means of the holidays, adding “we hope to see you on the streets of Northern California in the new year”—albeit with security drivers ready to take over by way of manual-override in case of emergency.

In other words, do not go promoting your human-operated vehicle any time quickly. The self-driving future is nonetheless a extended way off.

This story initially appeared on roadandtrack.com through Gizmodo.

After Almost a Year, Google Puts Headlights On Its Self-Driving Automobile