Apple executives are in Korea negotiating Apple Car production plans

(Pocket-lint) - Senior manufacture sources person told reporters astatine The Korea Times that executives from Apple person been successful the state arsenic of precocious to negociate and sermon future plans for electrical car constituent manufacturing. 

The manufacture of electrical vehicles (EVs) is 1 that is rapidly growing, and if Apple wants to prolong its presumption arsenic the richest institution successful the world, expanding into a marketplace arsenic hugely lucrative arsenic cars surely makes plentifulness of consciousness on-paper.  

However, substantiated leaks of however an Apple Car mightiness look, preform, oregon thing other of that benignant person been each but extinct. Apple does somewhat openly preform roadworthy tests for its interior investigating of self-driving cars utilizing their ain LiDAR units, but those modules are equip onto immoderate modular Lexus disconnected an car lot.  

According to The Korea Times report, Apple exes "have been successful Korea for concern talks with its Korean partners successful the semiconductor and show sectors [and now] the institution is seeking concern partners successful Korea for its EV business".  

Insiders speculate that Apple held "advanced" level meetings with different higher-ups from SK Innovation - the subdivision of LG that manufactures electrical car batteries. 

One of the ways Apple plans to basal retired from the EV contention is by sourcing lithium robust phosphate batteries, aka LFP batteries, arsenic opposed to the traditionally utilized lithium-ion batteries wrong of astir each azygous portion of tech disposable today. 

LFP batteries are considered to beryllium much durable successful presumption of being longer lasting batteries than tin grip much recharge cycles than emblematic li-ion units can, but they besides person a little archetypal vigor density arsenic compared to a li-ion portion of the aforesaid value and size. They’re besides expected to beryllium acold safer and little prone to overheating, which has gotta beryllium precocious up connected Apple’s precedence list. 

But possibly the astir important facet of these batteries are that they incorporate neither nickel nor cobalt — 2 resources which mostly spot monolithic proviso constraints and would marque accelerated wide accumulation overmuch much difficult. 

Apple wouldn't beryllium the archetypal to marketplace with this caller LFP artillery tech, arsenic Tesla already utilizes them, but lone successful a precise tiny batch of Chinese-manufactured Models 3 and Y. CEO Elon Musk, however, tweeted that the institution plans connected making a afloat modulation from lithium-ion to LFP sometime successful the adjacent future. 

Nickel is our biggest interest for scaling lithium-ion compartment production. That’s wherefore we are shifting modular scope cars to an robust cathode. Plenty of robust (and lithium)!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2021

As for an expected Apple Car merchandise date, don’t program connected seeing thing travel retired of the institution until astatine slightest 2025, arsenic reliable Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the Apple Car improvement is inactive successful the aboriginal stages, with the Cupertino elephantine aiming for a motorboat arsenic precocious arsenic 2028 oregon beyond. 

Writing by Alex Allegro. Originally published connected 13 August 2021.