Apple self-driving auto not happening? Meeting with the DMV says otherwise

Manufacturers must meet these rules to certify that their self-driving vehicles have undergone successful testing, meet safety requirements, and are ready to operate on public roads. It has been meeting with “many parties” interested in developing self-driving cars to gain a working understanding of how the technology is progressing, a spokesman said. The revelation comes amid widespread rumors that Apple has hired hundreds of employees to develop an electric vehicle over the past several months. Apple was not immediately available for comment on the report from the Guardian.

The Guardian caught wind of the meeting from DMV documents, and confirmed with the department’s officials that “the Apple meeting was to review DMV’s autonomous vehicle regulations”. Notably, back in May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project group met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that’s been turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles. A report in German magazine Auto Motor und Sport earlier this year suggested that Apple was planning to use BMW‘s i3 car as a reference model for its own, but this has since been denied by BMW, which said it was “in regular talks with companies from the IT and telecommunications sector, including Apple, concerning topics like connected vehicles”.

Apple has reportedly met with Californian regulators to discuss upcoming regulations that will govern the more widespread deployment of autonomous vehicles on that state’s roads.

California’s DMV regulations are widely expected to influence national policy in the future. These are usually appointed once Apple is ready for its projects to leave the lab.

However, Apple could potentially test its cars at a private location. A simpler option would be to buy its own property and test in complete secrecy without the need for any permits whatsoever – something the company may already have been doing for some time.

Ten companies – including Google and big carmakers such as BMV, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Tesla – already have permission from the state to test autonomous vehicles on public roads.

That work is happening at a low-profile office and lab complex in Sunnyvale codenamed SG05, where a $4.6m refurbishment that began last July is still incomplete.