Earlier we reported about the Apple Car’s rumors which is said to be a self-driving vehicle division of the iPhone maker likely to be revealed as early as 2021, new report has it that the production will start by the year 2024 according to Reuters.
Apple is said to have been working on this for the last 6 years and despite doubts about the company ever making actual branded cars on its name, the newest is that work on the development has progressed and the company is ready to build cars for consumers in the US.
Reuters cited an unnamed sources which has it that Apple is developing new battery design which has the potential to “radically” reduce the cost of batteries while increasing the vehicle’s range how nice does that sound.
The company is said to be building a monocell design which will bulk up the individual battery cells which will then free up space inside the battery pack and then remove ouches and modules which hold battery materials which will in turn allow for more active material in a smaller package.
Apple’s design means that more active material can be packed inside the battery, giving the car a potentially longer range. Apple is also examining a chemistry for the battery called LFP, or lithium iron phosphate, the person said, which is inherently less likely to overheat and is thus safer than other types of lithium-ion batteries.
One person who spoke to Reuters described Apple’s battery technology as “next level” and said that it’s similar to “the first time you saw the iPhone.”
The company is however said to be planning to rely on a manufacturing partner in order to build the vehicles whole also working with other partners for the car components which includes the LiDAR sensor for AI-based autonomous driving.
The Apple Car could feature multiple LiDAR sensors for scanning different distances, and some of those could be created from Apple’s internally developed LiDAR units.
Initial talks with Magna International about car manufacturing broke down after Apple’s plan became totally unclear and that could require the company to be much more specific about its requests as well as the volume of sales annually before it could enter into another talk.
And as Reuters put it, the company still have a lot of time at hand to back track its decision to making a full-blown car instead of just making autonomous car modules which can be installed on cars and the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global market and manufacturing could have a negative effect on the output of the Apple Car production.
