Apple Inc. is in discussions with multiple suppliers of self-driving car sensors known as lidar, according to people familiar with the matter, a key milestone toward development of its first passenger vehicle. As it’s done with the iPhone, Apple is looking to outside vendors to supply critical hardware for a planned autonomous vehicle, the people said. Benjamin Lyon, a key Apple manager who oversaw work on self-driving car hardware, left the company earlier this week for a space and satellite startup. Last year, Apple test cars drove more than 18,800 miles in California with a human driver having to take control every 145 miles. Even as Apple seeks suppliers, it also is in talks about potential manufacturing and other outsourcing partnership deals with several automakers.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 20, 2021 01:18 UTC