Spotted: Brand New Tesla Model Xs Outside “Secret” Apple Car/Autonomous Driving Office
It’s a public secret of sorts that some of Apple’s electric car and autonomous driving research is based out of a relatively nondescript complex located in Sunnyvale, California.
What actually goes on in the complex (175 San Gabriel Dr) isn’t something as publicly known, though there are reports of noise complaints in the area relating to nighttime “motor noises” — so, one can make some fairly safe guesses….
Public records seemingly confirm these “safe guesses” — with one of the offices even having had a “lube bay, wheel balancer, tire changer, and wheel sensor installed,” apparently.
How much more do we know? Well, thanks to some in-person investigation by a reporter at Business Insider, quite a bit more. Include the fact that it seems that Apple has already acquired at least two Tesla Model Xs — that is, if the the two electric SUVs in question didn’t simply belong to two employees (two employees who parked them on the side of a business complex street on a quiet Sunday afternoon…). (The Model Xs were apparently the only vehicles parked on the street at the time. And neither had California plates.
The Business Insider coverage also makes some interesting observations linking the facility, seemingly definitively, to Apple. The coverage notes that the “street has scary looking signs in front of its parking lots warning that trespassing is a crime, although San Gabriel Drive, where we took these photos, is a public road… That bottom sign looks a lot like the standard sign Apple uses to warn people from trespassing, only it’s missing any mention of Apple… I didn’t get a closer look at any of the offices. A security officer, wearing what looked like a black hat with an Apple logo, pulled up in a white Prius to keep an eye on me, so I drove away.”
Presumably, Apple purchased the Model Xs in question to deconstruct them. Though, for the time being, they certainly do seem to be completely intact. What else could he company have in mind?
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