Is Apple working on its own self-driving car?

Is Apple working on its own self-driving car? According to a report on Wired, citizens of Clayton-Concord area of California have reported seeing self-driven vehicles, without any traditional markings like say the Google self-driving cars have, and there is buzz that these vehicles are linked to Apple.Wired reports that pictures and videos of these 'self-driven cars' was first noted by the blog Claycord and one user also sent a video of "a similar looking van" roaming around in Brooklyn, New York.Another user posted on Claycord, “I have seen these vans in the Bay Area, but this is the first time that I have seen them in Claycord. When possible, I try to politely ask them who they are surveying for….but they are always very dismissive. Of course, this makes the conspiracy theorist in us all, a bit more angsty..."So who owns these mysterious vehicles? According to reports on CBSlocal the Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that one of the cars is leased to Apple. The report also notes that Apple doesn't have "testing permits for driverless cars."[caption id="attachment_253711" align="alignnone" width="640"]

The alleged Apple car under test. Screenshot from YouTube video.[/caption]So is this really an Apple driverless car? According to the report on Wired, Apple has shown sufficient interest in the car domain (let's not forget CarPlay which is a handsfree voice-control via Siri when you're driving by linking your iOS device to your car), and that there's enough reason to expect that the technology giant will start exploring this area more seriously.The report notes that Apple hired well-known roboticist John Morrell from Yale in 2013, which would be crucial to such a project.  According to Wired, "Morrell, a leading force in the development of the Segway who’d also been doing research in how robots interact with humans."The report also notes that the car does seem to be equipped with "necessary equipment to be a self-driving vehicle." However other than the fact that the license plate is registered to Apple, there's no other link to Apple.  There are no Apple stickers all over the vehicle, so it's hard to say if this is a short-term experiment or sign of something big that is coming soon.There's also the idea that this could be a mapping vehicle from Apple given how poor Apple Maps as product continues to be. Whatever it is, it has definitely piqued interest in what Apple could be doing next.