Who will the batteries for the Apple – electric car supply that will come to market in 2024? News about the Apple car: The group is to negotiate with two large manufacturers about the delivery of battery cells. Apple is supposed to develop its own electric car.
Apple is talking to the two Chinese companies CATL and BYD, a report by fxempire, citing four informants with insider knowledge who are not named. There is still no result.
According to two of the informants, Apple sets conditions: The battery cells are to be manufactured in the USA. For CATL this could be a reason for exclusion: Because of the current political tensions between the USA and China and for cost reasons, CATL was reluctant to build a factory in the USA. According to Reuters, all four also said that Apple is relying on lithium iron phosphate batteries. These are cheaper because they contain iron instead of nickel and cobalt, which are more expensive.
Is Apple also negotiating with other manufacturers?
CATL is currently the largest battery cell manufacturer, BYD the fourth largest. Neither of them commented on Reuters’ request, and neither did Apple. According to Reuters, it is not known whether Apple is also in talks with other battery manufacturers.
An Apple car project was reported for the first time in early 2015. At the time, it was said that Apple wanted to develop a self-driving electric car.
Apple negotiated with several German automakers, but they did not want to participate in the project. Earlier this year it was announced that Apple was negotiating with Hyundai to build an electric car. The car is supposed to be built by the Hyundai subsidiary Kia, as it has a factory in the US state of Georgia. As with the batteries, Apple should also insist that the car itself be produced in the USA. The start of production is planned for 2024.