Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple is in “early-stage talks with China’s CATL and BYD about supplying batteries for an electric vehicle, reports Reuters. The tech giant has made building manufacturing facilities in the U.S. a condition for potential battery suppliers, the article adds.
What are CATL and BYD?
CATL (Contemporary Amperex) is China’s largest producer of automotive battery packs. Last year it announced plans to US$5 billion plant in Indonesia.
BYD (Build Your Dreams) is is a Chinese manufacturing company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It has two major subsidiaries, BYD Automobile and BYD Electronic.
When can we expect an Apple Car?
The status of an Apple auto is unclear. On June 2, Bloomberg reported that Apple has lost “several” top managers from its “Apple Car” project. Here’s what the report says: Apple Inc. has lost multiple top managers of its self-driving car team in recent months, a sign of attrition at the division involved in what could become an important future product.
If an Apple Car ever arrivesit probably won’t arrive until 2024 at the earliest. In fact, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t expect it until at least 2025.
“We predicted in a previous report that Apple will launch Apple Car in 2023–2025 […],” he wrote in a December 2020 note to clients. “However, our latest survey indicates that the current development schedule of Apple Car is not clear, and if development starts this year and everything goes well, it will be launched in 2025–2027 at the earliest. Due to changes in the EV/self-driving market and Apple’s high-quality standards, we would not be surprised if Apple Car’s launch schedule is postponed to 2028 or later.”
