Apple Inc. teamed up with Volkswagen AG to convert some of the German car maker's new T6 Transporter vans into self-driving employee shuttles, but the project has run into delays, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the project.
Volkswagen subsidiary Italdesign is working with Apple on the T6 remake, which will keep the frame, wheels and chassis of the original model but replace many other components. Computers, sensors and a large electric car battery will be added, according to the sources.
The project's heads had told Apple CEO Tim Cook that the shuttle would be completed by the end of 2018, but that deadline will not be met, one former employee told the newspaper.
The project is behind schedule due to repeated direction changes, prompting hundreds of staff to leave Apple's four-year-old car program, which had 1,000 members in 2016. It is unclear whether the partnership will extend beyond the shuttle, the report said.
Apple's partnership with Volkswagen follows failed attempts by the iPhone maker to team up with luxury carmakers Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or BMW, and Mercedes-Benz to develop an all-electric, self-driving vehicle, the newspaper said, citing five people familiar with the talks.
Talks with BMW, Apple's top choice as car partner, and Mercedes-Benz ended after the two carmakers rejected Apple's demands to relinquish data and design control, the report added.
Apple had aspired to build its own electric self-driving car but has recalibrated its vision to focus on software for self-driving cars and an autonomous employee shuttle. Apple declined to comment, the Times said.
