Rumors about the Apple Car have become more frequent in recent weeks and it seems that there is more to come. The Verge reported today that Apple had talks last year with Canoo, a startup focused on electric vehicles and related technologies, to boost the development of the Apple branded car for a long time.
According to the report, the two companies discussed the possibility of investments and even an acquisition by Apple in the first half of 2020. Sources said The Verge that Apple was widely interested in Canoo’s scalable electric vehicle platform, which is called a “skateboard”.
It consists of integrating more car electronics using steer-by-wire technology, which allows greater flexibility in the cabin design. Apple intended to acquire Canoo, but the startup was only interested in working with the Cupertino-based company making investments.
Both companies stopped trading after Canoo entered the NASDAQ stock exchange in December. Tony Aquila, Canoo’s executive chairman, declined to discuss startup strategies and negotiations in a statement to The Verge, as well as Apple. Interestingly, Hyundai was previously working with Canoo to build its electric vehicles – which is the same thing that rumors say the automaker will do with Apple.
Although the acquisition of Canoo was unsuccessful, Apple bought Drive.ai in 2019 – a startup that was developing autonomous cars. Apple did not discuss the reasons behind the acquisition, but the company confirmed that Drive.ai engineers would work on product engineering and design.
We still don’t know when the Apple Car will be announced, although Bloomberg suggests that there are 5 to 7 years to go, but these rumors confirm that Apple is still working on the design of its own electric car.
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