However, there is a first time for everything, and it appears that a German Apple fan has found the time to construct their own version of the minivan. The Dodge Caravan has been kitted out with a roof-rack which looks remarkably similar to those used on Apple vehicles in the U.S., except it’s a fake, according to Apple Insider.
Fake Apple car spotted in Hanover, Germany
An Apple Insider reader named Thomas submitted a photo of the mysterious vehicle, which he took in the German city of Hanover. The city recently hosted the annual CeBIT technology trade show, and the owner of the vehicle may have been hoping to attract some attention with so many tech lovers in town.
The Dodge Caravan has the same rack as Apple’s vehicles, but the sensors appear to be fakes. The eagle-eyed among you may be able to spot that solid metal tubes are used in place of the Velodyne HDL-32 LiDAR units found on the genuine Apple vehicles, and the “cameras” in each corner are in fact plastic grommets.
Mystery shrouds the true purpose of the Apple Car
The high-sensitivity GPS antennas have also been replaced, this time with PVC saucers on square metal tubing. The GPS is thought to be used for a new digital mapping program that Apple is developing, although a sticker on the rear left door of the fake vehicle identifies it as an “autonomous test vehicle.”
Most commentators do not think that the vehicles are being used to develop a self-driving Apple car, but the owner of this particular example is presumably set on pulling a prank on the tech world. Could it be an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the attendees of the CeBIT trade show, or will the vehicle be used in a video?
Thomas did not hang around to try and find out more from the owner, so at the moment we can only think that the fake Apple car was put together by a prankster with too much time on their hands.
