Before ending its much-discussed electric car project, Apple has worked with Chinese automaker BYD on batteries, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The collaboration between the two companies started around 2017, according to the report, with the aim of to develop lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells. Of course Apple car. BYD has a lot of experience with this technology, looking to improve the cooling and safety of its Blade battery launched in 2020.
BYD Han EV
Apple has reportedly assigned Alexander Hitzinger to the effort. Hitzinger was the technical director of Porsche 919 hybrid race-car project before joining Apple as head of product design for its special projects group, a position he held from 2016 to 2019 before returning to the Volkswagen Group, where he worked on autonomous driving and the Audi EV project.
The team reportedly included 50 engineers led by Apple's Mujeeb Ijaz, and Michael He, Vice President of BYD's battery business, representing the company. A larger team, said to be around 2,000 people, worked on the car project itself. Sometimes it is called “Project Titan,” has been discussed in media reports since 2014, although little concrete information has been released.
BYD Han EV
It is reported that Apple withdrew from the partnership and began testing battery technology with other companies. Two reports in 2021 said that Apple was looking for LFP batteries from both BYD and the Chinese company CATL, possibly made in the US. Reports from December 2020 also said that Apple was pursuing a “monocell” design for batteries that freed up more space.
After reportedly being downgraded to a base car with no prior driving expectations, Apple canceled the electric car project earlier this year. Apple's other involvement in the automotive industry will likely be limited to the CarPlay smartphone display system it currently offers to automakers.