This past summer we learned that Apple was in talks with China’s CATL and BYD to supply battery packs for its electric vehicle. But now it appears the negotiations have stalled as Apple allegedly wants the batteries to be made in the US as well as an exclusive manufacturing operation.
We heard over the summer from both Reuters and Digitimes that Apple was looking to have CATL and/or BYD set up manufacturing for batteries in the US.
Now in a new report from Reuters, sources say that along with the made in US requirement, Apple was demanding that CATL or BYD dedicate an exclusive team to build the batteries for Apple Car.
Between the large investment, US and China tensions, and the difficultly to create an exclusive team for Apple, battery talks with CATL and BYD have allegedly been put on pause.
The firms informed Apple sometime in the past two months that they were not able to meet its requirements, the people said. But the U.S. company has not given up hope of resuming talks with either CATL or BYD , according to one source.
In light of that, Apple is said to have expanded its talks to Japanese battery manufacturers including Tesla’s longtime partner Panasonic.
Apple, BYD, and Panasonic all declined to comment to Reuters about the news. However, CATL did respond:
CATL said in a statement to Reuters that it denied “the relevant information”.
“We are evaluating the opportunity and possibility of manufacture localization in North America,” the statement said, adding that it has a dedicated professional team exclusively for each customer.
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Author: Michael Potuck
Source: Electrek
