Apple has let slip very few details about its upcoming electric car, but one of the things we recently learned about the project is the company is already in talks with battery manufacturers. They are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL for short, the world’s largest battery maker which supplies automakers like Tesla, Mercedes, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, and Hyundai, among others) and BYD (the world’s fourth largest automotive battery provider).
According to Reuters, Apple wants to not only reach agreements with the companies to build battery packs for their automotive project, but to also have them built in the United States. The report says CATL is reluctant to open up a manufacturing site in the US (because of some recent tensions between US and Chinese governments), but there’s also the issue of cost (higher labor rates, among other factors, would drive up the price of the batteries).
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