The rumor mill won’t give up on the Apple Car dream. It hasn’t necessarily been on again, off again, but it has evolved over the years. But, for now, it appears things are back on track and Apple’s working towards actually launching an electric automobile in several years.
DigiTimes has a new report that sheds some light on manufacturers in Taiwan looking to capitalize on electric car manufacturing. But it really caught on because of the first line in the article, which states that Apple’s plans for an electric vehicle will reportedly include building batteries in the United States. Which is kind of a big deal.
The report indicates that, at some point, Apple was planning to work with Chinese battery manufacturers like BYD and/or CATL. However, those plans have changed, and, as a result, Apple has shifted its attention to battery manufacturers in Taiwan. The reason? Insistence that the batteries be made in the United States, which apparently built a rift between the Chinese companies.
Per the report:
Apple, which reportedly is mulling manufacture batteries for Apple Car in the US, may work with Taiwanese makers rather than Chinese ones, according to industry sources.
Taiwan-based Foxconn or Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry (Aleees), both of which plan to set up factories in the US, stand a chance of working with Apple on car batteries, the sources said.
If these plans pan out, either one of these Taiwanese manufacturers would be required to build battery manufacturing plants in the U.S. Of course, this is still years out. However, this could line up with a previous rumor we heard not too long ago. Back in April of this year, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that he believes Apple will share some news about the Apple Car, or “Project Titan,” relatively soon. He said that Apple would need to start laying the groundwork for an electric automobile much sooner than it would its traditional devices.
And if Apple plans on working with Taiwanese manufacturers to build plants in the United States, that’ll work up some fanfare.
In related news, Apple recently hired the ex-CEO of electric car company Canoo, Ulrich Kranz.