Apple is reportedly working with Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) on electric car batteries, leading to speculation about a possible EV from the Cupertino company.
Over the past several months, rumors of an Apple car have died down after the company confirmed it was working on an autonomous driving platform, rather than an actual car. But today's news points to the possibility of Apple resurrecting its interest in making a car to compete against the Tesla Model 3 and Chevy Bolt.
According to Electrek, CATL has tripled its lithium-ion battery production over the last year, with plans to reach 50 GWh by 2020. If CATL reaches that level of production, it would become the second biggest lithium-ion battery producer in the world behind Tesla and Panasonic, Electrek said.
By partnering with CATL, Apple is taking a big first step toward making an EV at a consumer-wide scale. Meeting demand for iPhone and MacBook is hard enough for the Cupertino company, so imagine what it would be like if it actually made a car.
The jury's still out about whether or not Apple is making an electric car. Currently, the company is testing its autonomous driving platform around the U.S., with no word on when (or if) the software will ever be available in a car in the future.
