Meghana KandraApple is reportedly known to look out for locations in Asia. It is further known that Apple plans to have discussions with Toyota about starting Apple Car’s mass production. By 2024, Apple plans to start its car manufacturing process.
Image credits- Hindustan Times Auto News
Toyota isn’t the first company Apple is known to have approached in the past few months. Only this year, the news about the company pushing forward its EV project came out. Earlier it was known that Hyundai and Apple were in talks, but it looks like Apple is looking for something specific.
As they seem to be approaching companies existing for decades in the automobile industry, it is known to be related to the mass production of their vehicle. Another automaker Apple came in contact with is Magna International, an EV manufacturing service provided based in Canada.
DigiTimes reports that Apple is in talks with automakers in Korea and Japan. Says the major focus is on “Battery supply”. Evidently, the shift towards electric vehicles was hit with a semiconductor shortage and the increasing price of lithium-ion batteries. A phone manufacturing company is focusing on battery supply to make cars.
In talks with EV component manufacturers
Last month the company was known to be in talks with EV component manufacturers in Korea like LG Chem and SK Innovation. A company expert in petrochemical technology, Hanwha was also contacted by Apple while they were exploring companies in Korea.
Hanwha is a company that provides sustainable and innovative solutions. It is possible that Apple is looking out for sustainability in the production of its cars. In recent times, as a process to reduce carbon emissions, companies are setting rigorous goals. Sustainability is also a considerable factor while manufacturing the components and the car.
Unlike its competitors like Google’s Waymo making robotaxis, Apple plans to sell cars to consumers. Foreign Affairs News reported that they got information from sources who don’t want to be named. They say that the Apple car will feature Lidar sensors for identifying the distances. Apple’s iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro are equipped with Lidar sensors when launched this year. The car will be using these internally developed Lidar sensors too.
So far no information is made available officially. Back in 2014, the company started Project Titan to make a vehicle from scratch. However, they shifted to developing software for iPhone and reassessed its goals. But this time, it is most likely that the company will soon release an official statement regarding Apple Car.