More than half a decade after leaving Apple, two of the tech giant’s former designers could be working on pretty much anything they want. Instead, they both seem to have luxury vehicles trapped in their minds.
Could it be that Apple’s shelved EV project is still haunting them? Coincidentally, Waymo acquired the f from that project.worm testing grounds this month.
The two designers who worked on industry-changing consumer products such as the iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch and Vision Pro have taken very different paths after Apple’s car project failed.
Jony Ive and his creative collective LoveFrom collaborated with Ferrari on the luxury sports car company’s first electric vehicle. The Ferrari Luce was introduced last month to a mostly negative response. And just this week, the company announced the sudden departure from his former marketing boss.
In stark contrast, Apple design veteran Julian Hoenig today publicly released a new electric buggy company called Amble.
The company’s first product is the Amble One, a minimalist, street-legal electric buggy with a top speed of about 40 miles per hour and a range of about 60 miles on a single charge. Amble sees it as part of a new category of light electric vehicles designed specifically for short trips. The word “wander” itself means a leisurely stroll.
“Amble One is built to embody that idea in its open, simple design, with no unnecessary separation between indoor and outdoor, people and place,” Hoenig said in a news release. “No doors closing you in, no unnecessary screens keeping you away. It’s about the people on board and how they enjoy the world around them.”
The buggy looks like it could have come straight from Apple. It has a rounded aluminum frame, a large tablet-shaped windshield, and a clean, minimalist look. It also uses weather-resistant materials, including organic cork on the steering wheel and marine-grade canvas for the roof.
Hoenig told Bloomberg which was inspired by retro vehicles and even NASA’s 1971 lunar rover.
He also told the outlet that the idea came from his friend and Amble co-founder José António Uva, a Portuguese hotelier who complained about how difficult it was to find good golf carts for hotels. Beyond being ugly, Uva and other hospitality professionals have long complained that golf carts are uncomfortable and fragile.
The demand for a better golf cart turned out to be quite a lucrative opportunity. Amble says all of its 2027 delivery slots are already booked for hospitality customers. Bloomberg reports that Amble’s first customers were hotels, which bought the buggies in bulk. The average order was for about 40 vehicles worth approximately $1 million.
But Amble imagines these buggies will work beyond hotels and golf courses. The company says the Amble One is designed for short-range travel in places like coastal trails, towns, neighborhoods and private properties.
That could eventually mean corporate and university campuses, gated communities and perhaps even some urban areas.
The company has already opened orders for individual customers in Europe and the United States, with deliveries expected to begin in 2028. The Amble One starts at around $25,000, before local taxes and fees.
Amble is already working on a tracking vehicle designed for more urban drivers. That version is expected to include removable doors and a hardtop.
Hoeing imagines these buggies could become the ideal second car for families, used for dropping the kids off at school, going to the grocery store, or quick trips to nearby restaurants.
“I’ll probably take my son to school in an Amble,” Hoenig told Bloomberg.
