According to DigiTimes, the Cupertino tech giant plans to produce batteries for its long-rumoured vehicle project on home soil in the United States partnering with either Foxconn or Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry. From the report:
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.
Apple reportedly was looking to work with China’s two largest battery suppliers, CATL and BYD, but Apple’s insistence on using US-made batteries for Apple Car is making such partnerships seem unlikely, said the sources. None of these companies have confirmed the reports.
Foxconn in my view is the more likely partner. Apple has worked with Foxconn for years on various projects such as iPhone assembly and sourcing of parts and raw materials. The plan for Foxconn to build factories in the US is not a coincidence and you can bet Apple will take full advantage of their established partnership.
Finally, assembly of most Apple products still takes place in China but the actual components and raw materials are sourced from around the world. Even the designs for Apple’s in house silicon for instance are based on technology developed by a third party, ARM holdings in Cambridge, UK.
The design, engineering and manufacturing of Apple’s products is becoming more and more a global effort. So this rumour does carry some weight.
Citation
Image: Dave Sherrill via Unsplash