Driving at night, in a Robot.

Thoughts on Apple Car, Part 157

One aspect of driving in Apple Car we did not cover so far, is night driving. The experience of driving in a car by night is special, and has inspired humanity and especially pop culture for decades. It’s more dangerous, it’s mysterious and somewhat an even more direct experience of feeling like a prehistoric cave man sitting in a shelter staring out in the dark. I think the memories we have to that driving mode are even more engrained, since they start at an early age when we used to sit in the back of our parents’ car, going home, half sleeping, feeling cozy and warm, looking out of the window for hours and lights zipping by. This passive experience of driving is then replaced by the much more demanding job at the steering wheel when we’re parents ourselves.

Sitting in a selfdriving car, however, we can be kids again. Doing whatever we want, enjoying the ride through the dark. What we envision Apple Car to be, again comes down to a very primal feel of sitting around a fire in the dark, feeling safe:

Notice the discrete headlights in the render above. They are on top and on the very bottom of Apple Car’s body. Different…