Citing correspondence between site officials and Apple engineer Frank Fearon, The Guardian quoted the engineer as saying that Apple “would like to get an understanding of timing and availability for the space”. An Apple spokesman declined to comment Friday.
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The base is actually closed off to the public and guarded by the military itself.
The Guardian’s conclusion is that Apple is further along in developing its vehicle than most folks think.
GoMentum Station’s testing grounds feature highway overpasses, cattle grids, railway crossings, tunnels and nearly everything else Apple could want to test its electric vehicle in a realistic scenario. The rumour mill has long suspected that that also included self-driving cars, and now documents obtained by The Guardian seem to confirm that.
But none of the emails show that Apple wanted to use the site for self-driving cars.
Details of the project are still under wraps by Apple, but it appears as though engineers are finally at the stage where they are thinking seriously about testing the autonomous vehicle. It’s said to be a high-security facility that’s been used by Honda and Mercedes-Benz for testing autonomous vehicles.
The report also notes Fearon asking GoMentum Officils for a presentation regarding the testing ground and how the vast land can be used including photos and layouts.
Randy Iwasaki, the owner of GoMentum station said the company has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Apple; hence no insights are available from that source. “We can’t tell you anything other than they’ve come in and they’re intested”.
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While some analysts see Apple as setting out to reinvent transportation, others have been skeptical, predicting that the company is mainly interested in designing and supply electronic components and consumer gadgets for increasingly automated cars. Google’s new parent company Alphabet and Uber have both entered into development on such vehicles over the previous year.
