More details emerged about Apple’s alleged interest in working on an autonomous electric car in partnership with Hyundai Motor. A report from the local newspaper Korea IT News (by Reuters) today suggests that Hyundai and Apple plan to sign a partnership agreement by March this year.
Apple Car and Hyundai
Today’s report comes after a Hyundai spokesman last week confirmed that he is in talks with Apple over a potential Apple Car production deal. “We understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global auto manufacturers, including Hyundai Motor,” said a company spokesman at the time. “As the discussion is in its early stages, nothing has been decided.”
Korea IT News says that Hyundai and Apple intend to reach an agreement for autonomous electric cars as early as March 2021. Production could then begin “as early as 2024 in the United States”. The report cites industry sources and says that Apple and Hyundai would either build the cars at the Kia Motors plant in Georgia, or “jointly invest in a new plant in the United States”.
The two companies plan to produce 100,000 vehicles in 2024, reaching an annual capacity of 400,000. The report adds that a “beta version” of the Apple Car could begin testing next year.
The timeline suggested by this Korea IT News report is quite aggressive and has been questioned by other sources, such as Bloomberg and Ming-Chi Kuo. After reporting Reuters Last month, suggesting that Apple Car could start production in 2024, Kuo indicated that the launch could be in 2028 or later.
Finally, an Bloomberg just last week indicated that an Apple Car launch is at least 5-7 years away. That said, Apple is reportedly expanding the Apple Car team at a rapid pace with engineers, former Tesla executives and designers.
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