Apple's self-driving car testing program has recently added more drivers as the autonomous project continues.
It seems that the Apple Car self-driving test is slowly growing these days, according to a new report.
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A man checks his phone in an Apple retail store in Grand Central Terminal, January 29, 2019 in New York City. Apple is set to report first-quarter earnings results after U.S. markets close on Tuesday.
Apple Car Self-Driving Program
According to a report by 9to5 Mac, Bloomberg initially says that the first-ever Apple Car is seeing the light of day in 2026 without any full self-driving feature.
But despite that, it looks like the tech giant is pretty serious about its self-driving testing project. It comes as the rumored vehicle might start featuring some driving assistance functionalities right off the bat.
As such, Apple remains to be testing its autonomous vehicle in California. Recent data shows that the tech firm is expanding its list of drivers.
Apple Adds More Drivers to its Autonomous Fleet
As per Mac Reports, Apple has increased the number of its drivers for its self-driving or autonomous testing program, as it slowly grows.
From 196 drivers, the iPhone maker now bumps it up to more than 200. This time, the Apple self-driving program already has a total of 201 drivers for its autonomous fleet.
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This illustration picture shows the US multinational technology company Apple logo displayed on a tablet in Paris on February 18, 2019.
The California DMV Autonomous Vehicles Program report further notes that the luxury carmaker, Mercedes, added about 28 drivers to its fleet. But despite that, Apple still has more drivers.
The Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle (EV) maker, Tesla, on the other hand, only has 59 drivers for its fleet of 14 autonomous vehicles.
Meanwhile, Google-owned Waymo has an impressive number of drivers and vehicles. It has a staggering 971 drivers for its autonomous program, along with 326 self-driving cars.
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Apple Self-Driving Vehicles
Although Apple has increased its number of authorized drivers for autonomous car testing, it has yet to expand its fleet.
The same as in January, the iPhone maker still has a steady fleet, consisting of 67 vehicles.
Apart from the growing list of drivers, Apple booked a recent minor accident in its self-driving testing program. Apple Insider notes that the collision involved a rim and tire making contact with a curb. It is not as serious after all.
Since Apple registered its autonomous vehicle testing program it has already reported a total of 16 collisions, including the latest incident.
As of writing, the iPhone maker has yet to confirm how it plans to go about its Apple Car project.
For now, it seems that the tech giant is focusing on testing its self-driving features. Rumor has it that the first rodeo of Apple to the vehicle market is kicking off in 2026 or at a much later date.
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