Apple Cancels Self-Driving Vehicle Testing Permit in California After Abandoning Car Project

Just over six months after Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple abandoned its plans to release an electric vehicle, California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) canceled Apple's autonomous vehicle testing permit, according to macReports.

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The report states that the DMV received confirmation from Apple to cancel the permit on September 25, and the permit became canceled as of September 27. While this decision is not surprising given Gurman's reporting earlier this year, this is effectively the final nail in the coffin for Apple's decade-long electric vehicle project.

The permit allowed Apple to test a self-driving vehicle with a safety driver on any public road within California. Apple received the permit in 2017, and macReports said that it would have been active until April 30, 2025 had it not been canceled.

Apple was using leased Lexus SUVs equipped with an array of sensors and cameras to test various autonomous driving technologies on California streets.

Read our Apple Car roundup for more details about the canceled project.

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Top Rated Comments

minimo3 Avatar
3 hours ago at 12:12 pm

Just buy Tesla Apple. Elon is a jerk anyway.
You almost need a jerk leader to build revolutionary products - Elon alone has Tesla, spaceX and starlink. Then there’s Steve Jobs and Sam Altman for OpenAI as further examples. If you’re a “nice” leader that bows to public opinion you get today’s Google with Sundar Pichai, todays Apple with Tim Cook and the Chevy Blazer with Mary Barra. You must make your own decision if you want awesome products or pleasant CEOs
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
breenmask Avatar
3 hours ago at 12:01 pm

Apple was NEVER going to build a car.

I've been saying that for what feels like a decade at this point. It was somebody's pet project that was NEVER going to be a product.
Yeah because they poached Doug Field (key head engineer guy for Model 3) from Tesla to never build a car, right?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vertsix Avatar
3 hours ago at 11:55 am
By the looks of it, Vision Pro is next. :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mxrider88 Avatar
2 hours ago at 12:16 pm
After seeing Tesla robocab they had a meeting and decided to focus on emojis
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
2 hours ago at 12:39 pm
I despise the electric vehicle my wife pushed us to buy. Going on a road trip with it turned 6 hours into 9 hours, having to wait in long lines at charging stations. I’m glad Apple is out of this game and reallocating resources. This vehicle would have been ridiculously expensive anyway, out of the price range for most of us mere mortals.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleTO Avatar
3 hours ago at 11:53 am
That's a CarPlay 2.0 photo, is it not? Not that we'll probably ever see that anyways.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)