Jony Ive and Thomas Ulbrich launch $25,000 moon buggy EV
Ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive and Audi’s ex-EV boss Thomas Ulbrich built the $25,000 Amble One, a two-seat, 55 mph electric buggy inspired by the Apollo moon rover, for luxury resorts. It tests wheth
Apple’s former head of design and Audi’s former chief of electric mobility have built a $25,000 electric buggy inspired by the Apollo-era moon rover.
Read Full Story at Ars Technica →Why This Matters
The Amble One represents a convergence of high design, automotive innovation, and luxury hospitality, pushing the boundaries of what a "premium experience" can mean in the EV era. By repurposing the aesthetics and ethos of lunar exploration for terrestrial leisure, it challenges conventional notions of both mobility and exclusivity, blending aerospace nostalgia with modern sustainability.
Background Context
The collaboration between Jony Ive’s London-based design studio and Audi’s ex-EV leadership taps into a little-discussed niche: the intersection of automotive engineering and bespoke luxury resort experiences. Historically, moon buggy-inspired vehicles were built for NASA’s lunar missions, but this marks a rare instance of that design language being commodified for high-end consumer markets, leveraging the cultural cachet of space exploration without the practical constraints of off-world travel.
What Happens Next
If the Amble One gains traction, it could catalyze a new category of "experience-driven" EVs, where form and narrative outweigh raw performance metrics. Industry watchers will likely scrutinize whether its $25,000 price point—relatively modest for a luxury vehicle—signals a shift toward accessible premiumization in the EV space, or if it’s merely a proof-of-concept for a niche market.
Bigger Picture
This project underscores a growing trend of "heritage reinterpretation" in tech and automotive industries, where iconic designs from past eras are reimagined for contemporary audiences. It also reflects a broader cultural fascination with space-age aesthetics, which has resurged alongside advancements in EV technology and private spaceflight, blurring the lines between sci-fi and tangible luxury.
