Insiders reveal what the Apple car could have looked like

A Volkswagen Kombi-inspired people mover created a year before the VW ID. Buzz concept was unveiled was among the designs considered for the cancelled Apple electric car, company insiders have revealed.

A report by Bloomberg from respected Apple-centric journalist Mark Gurman – who broke the story of the car's axing – has revealed some of the design concepts planned for the Apple car since development began 10 years ago.

Apple is said to have invested up to $US10 billion over a decade in the car project, which was planned to be autonomous – with no steering wheel or pedals – but scaled back in a bid to keep it alive, before it was scrapped last month.

MORE: Apple’s autonomous electric car project is dead – report

There were reportedly at least five concepts for the Apple car, including one which looked like the Volkswagen ID. Buzz even before the German car giant presented it as a concept in 2017.

Bloomberg and Gurman report one of the concepts – a people mover nicknamed the Bread Loaf – made the prototype stage and was demonstrated to top Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook, in 2020 at a test track in Arizona.

It is described as a futuristic people mover with rounded edges, identical front and rear fascias «so it would always look like you were driving forward», pure white paint, a glass roof, sliding doors, adjustable window tint, and black wheels wrapped in whitewall tyres.

The 'Bread Loaf' is said to have resembled the Lifestyle Vehicle from US electric-car start-up Canoo (pictured), and «looked like no other mass-produced vehicle,» according to Bloomberg.

MORE: Electric start-up Canoo could be on the brink of collapse

Inside, there was space for four people in private jet-like seats which could convert from normal seats into recliners, or footrests – with the interior described as sitting in a «contoured bubble».

The cabin design is said to have changed frequently over the project, though all concepts are said to have been minimalist – with ideas ranging from a large TV screen to show videos and FaceTime calls, to «iPad-sized displays suspended from the roof to access frequent controls.»

Other ideas proposed for the interiors included air conditioning that