Apple has been busy working on its electric car project at top secret facilities in Silicon Valley, but the tech that will make it totally autonomous might be hiding in plain sight throughout San Francisco.
During a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, an eagle-eyed observer spotted what could be Apple’s latest self-driving car or mapping van that is armed with more sensors than ever.
Check it out:
The van above spotted by Business Insider sure looks a lot like Apple’s mapping mini vans that were spotted around the country early last year. It looks like there are an array of Lidar sensors that are crucial for mapping and obtaining data for automated driving.
It doesn’t appear that the van can actually drive itself, as it had a driver and co-pilot taking measurements. There are also a couple cameras on all four sides of the vehicle which could be used for capturing Google Street View like photos.
Apple has been not-so-secretly working on an electric vehicle to compete with Tesla, though it’s unclear if the vehicle will come with self-driving tech out of the gate. The Apple Car certainly won’t look as ugly as a Ford Transit Van, but the company might be using it to test out the autonomous driving technology.
Of course, Apple wouldn’t say if they’re the company behind the van and it could belong to any of the numerous Silicon Valley companies exploring self-driving cars.
Have you spotted one of these vans in your city? Let us know in the comments below.