Apple Car May Hit a Roadblock; Chinese Supplier Stalled Battery Deals

Rumoured Apple car has hit another roadblock, revealed in a report. According to the news reports from Reuters, the company’s Chinese battery supplier has stalled the supply due to unreasonable demands. Furthermore, the Apple tech giant and China’s CATL and BYD, the main battery supplying companies, were in talks for a hypothetical Apple car battery; the request has been denied as per Apple’s requirements.

'Apple Car' or Project Titan is back on the track and we'll likely have something strong to check out once the vehicle starts creation in 2024. The undertaking which initially started in 2014, had been briefly racked after the tech-goliath laid off around 190 representatives back in 2019.

When asked, the involved companies did refuse to comment on the issue. Reuter further reported that Apple had initiated the request from one of the firms to set up teams to build battery production plants in the US to ink any final deal. BYD and CATL declined the requests for investments for local US production and informed Apple of their decisions within the past two months.

It is said that CATL’s decision has to do with the tensions between the US and China; BYD reportedly was not comfortable building a facility solely to serve Apple’s plans.

With the outcome, Chinese battery makers may have to opt-out of the race; the report states that Apple is now approaching Japanese battery makers and sending the teams to the country to make contact with undisclosed companies.

The Apple Car has been facing difficulties for years. The rumours sparked again in 2021 when the tech company appeared close to a deal with Hyundai to build the vehicle. Later, the Korean automaker confirmed the talks didn’t end with a commitment to work with Apple. After that, rumours of Apple reaching out to various suppliers and manufacturers have continued.