Apparently Apple is facing some difficulties in its project to build an electric car.
Now, ongoing negotiations between Apple and the two Chinese manufacturers have come to an abrupt halt.
Chinese manufacturers don’t want to work exclusively for Apple
Apple’s project to build its first electric car, due to ship in 2024, has been in the news for some time, but now the Cupertino company faces another hurdle that could compromise the announced launch date.
According to the Reuters news agency citing sources close to the lawsuit, talks between Apple and Chinese electric battery makers CATL and BYD came to an abrupt halt.
According to the same sources, the disruption was due to Chinese companies refusing to team up and build factories in the United States that would respond exclusively to Apple’s requests.
Apple wants LFP battery in its electric car
Despite this setback, Tim Cook’s company has not given up hope of resuming negotiations with both Chinese manufacturers. All because Apple wants to integrate lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries into its electric car, which are cheaper to produce. And of course both CATL and BYD are experts in the field and show more progress than their competitors.
According to one of the sources linked to the Apple project, the manufacturer CATL rejected the idea of ​​building a factory in the United States due to political and economic tensions between Beijing and Washington.
On the other hand, CATL also found that it is almost impossible to form a working product development team, exclusively for Apple, due to the various difficulties in finding and gathering enough people.
The BYD case is a bit different. This Chinese manufacturer even has an iron phosphate factory in California, but according to sources linked to the process, it refused to build a new factory and create a team that would work exclusively for Apple.
Apple evaluates the possibility of working with Japanese manufacturers
Reuters also said that, with negotiations stalled with Chinese manufacturers, Apple turned to Japan to consider other possibilities, namely manufacturer Panasonic Corp.
This is an especially good time for the US electric car industry, as the Joe Biden administration wants to turn the country into an electric vehicle powerhouse.
Remember that Biden has already publicly announced that by 2030 he wants half of the new vehicles sold to be electric. If Apple manages to keep its electric launch in 2024, it could represent a significant percentage of this administration’s goal for Biden.