The rumors about an Apple car in the making have been on for some time, although there had not been any definitive statement or even a tipster’s leak that indicates that the famed Apple car is ready to move out of the drawing board. Apple has however continued to expand its fleet of self-driving electric vehicles under testing in California. The news emanating from South Korea is that Apple has had some discussions with its business partners and possible producers of EV components in Korea.
The news was highlighted in the Korea Times and specifically mentioned that Apple had talks outside the iPhone engagements it has had in recent times with some of its partners in Korea. Some of the companies mentioned in the talks were LG Electronics, SK Innovation, and Hanwa. Note that SK Innovation is the EV-battery-making arm of the SK Group.
Samsung has also had talks previously with several automakers, and it is believed that further talks took place with Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, and a few other automakers. No public statement is however available to ascertain whether indeed talks were held, as none of the companies mentioned have put out any statement debunking or affirming the claim.
It would be really interesting to see Apple come up with its own car. Little is also known about the purpose of the electric vehicle development by Apple. We cannot say whether the car is for commercial production or something else. If indeed Apple is pursuing the development of electric vehicles, there are no timelines or milestones available for the project. We do not know whether we are close to the eventual launch of the Apple car.
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