Apple’s Canceled Car Project–Still Has Autonomous License, Recently Added 10 Drivers
Two days ago, rumors began to surface about Apple canceling its electric car project, Project Titan. The project was first announced about ten years ago, and since then, Apple has been publicly testing its Lexus RX 450h autonomous vehicle (AV) fleet in California. So far, according to the California DMV, as of February 28th, there has been no change in Apple’s license to test AVs. In fact, between January 5th and February 23rd, Apple added 10 more drivers to its test driving team.
Apple’s AV fleet and test driving team numbers
As of February 23, 2024, Apple has 172 licensed test drivers and 67 licensed test vehicles. In a previous report on Apple’s numbers in January, we saw that Apple had 162 licensed drivers and 68 licensed vehicles.
While other manufacturers’ program sizes saw large variations over time, such as Waymo’s and Cruise’s, Apple’s program remained fairly steady–not growing or shrinking dramatically. The most dramatic changes to the size of its program happened in April 2021 and in again in April 2023, when it slashed its driving team numbers.
Driverless programs
Apple was one of the early entrants into the California AV scene. Despite that, Apple never applied for a license to test driverless vehicles. Eight other manufacturers have held driverless permits, six currently hold driverless testing permits and three hold permits allowing them to deploy driverless vehicles.
Previous coverage of Apple’s autonomous vehicle program
- November 2023: Apple Grows Its AV Fleet for the First Time Since 2021
- July 2023: Apple Grows AV Driving Team Again After Dramatic Cut Earlier This Year
- March 2023: Apple Increases Number of Test Drivers for Its Autonomous Fleet, Keeps Fleet Size Steady
- January 2023: Apple Adds More Drivers to Autonomous Vehicle Team; Decreases Fleet Size
- November 2022: Apple Has Added 51 More Drivers in 2022 While Fleet Size Remains Steady
- September 2022: Apple Adds More Drivers to its Autonomous Vehicle Program; Waymo, Cruise Make Huge Additions to Their Driverless Fleets
Early autonomous vehicle coverage