More than half a decade after leaving Apple, two of the tech giant’s former designers could be working on just about anything they want. Instead, they both seem to have luxury vehicles stuck on their minds.
Could it be that Apple’s shelved EV project is still haunting them? Coincidentally, Waymo acquired that project’s former proving grounds this month.
The two designers who worked on industry-changing consumer products like the iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro have gone down very different roads after Apple’s car project was killed.
Jony Ive and his creative collective LoveFrom went on to collaborate with Ferrari on the luxury sports car company’s first EV. The Ferrari Luce was unveiled last month to a largely negative response. And just this week, the company announced the sudden departure of its longtime marketing chief.
In a pretty stark contrast, Apple design veteran Julian Hoenig today publicly launched 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 is calling it part of a new category of lightweight EVs purpose-built for short trips. The word “amble” itself means a relaxed stroll.
“Amble One is built to embody that idea in its open, simple design, with no unnecessary separation between interior and exterior, people and place,” said Hoenig in a press release. “No doors to close you in, no unnecessary screens to pull you away. It is about the people on board and how they enjoy the world around them.”
The buggy looks like it could have come straight out of Apple. It has a rounded aluminum frame, a large tablet-shaped windshield, and a clean, minimal look. It also uses weather-resistant materials, including organic cork on the steering wheel and marine-grade canvas for the roof.
Hoenig told Bloomberg that he drew inspiration from 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 hard 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.
Demand for a better golf cart turned out to be a pretty lucrative opportunity. Amble says its 2027 delivery slots are already all reserved for hospitality customers. Bloomberg reports that Amble’s first customers were hotels, which bought the buggies in bulk. The average order was about 40 vehicles worth roughly $1 million.
But Amble imagines these buggies working beyond hotels and golf courses. The company says the Amble One is designed for short-range trips in places like coastal paths, villages, neighborhoods, and private estates.
That could eventually mean corporate and college campuses, gated communities, and maybe even some urban areas.
The company has now opened orders for individual customers in Europe and the United States, with deliveries expected to start in 2028. The Amble One starts at around $25,000, before local taxes and fees.
Amble is already working on a follow-up vehicle with more urban drivers in mind. That version is expected to include removable doors and a hardtop roof.
Hoeing imagines these buggies could become the ideal second cars for families, used for school drop-offs, grocery runs, or quick trips to nearby restaurants.
“I’m for sure taking my kid to school in an Amble,” Hoenig told Bloomberg.
