Apple worked with China’s BYD on batteries for its car project

The Apple Car project was canceled before it even saw the light of day, and although Apple has never publicly acknowledged the project, we know a lot of details about it thanks to different insiders. Now a new report has revealed details about a partnership between Apple and BYD to work on batteries for the so-called Apple Car.

Apple wanted to use BYD batteries in its electric car

As reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple has worked closely with Chinese automaker BYD. Both companies reportedly reached an agreement around 2017 to build batteries using lithium iron phosphate cells (LFP). The technology would significantly increase the autonomy of the car and was also considered safer than typical electric vehicle batteries.

Although BYD has its own electric vehicles, the battery built in partnership with Apple would be designed exclusively for the Apple Car. Apple chose engineers specializing in advanced battery packs and heat management to work on the project, while BYD contributed manufacturing know-how and advancements using LFP batteries.

When Apple was looking for partners to work on the car project, BYD reportedly approached the company to show an early version of its “Blade” battery. Apple executives were reportedly amazed by the battery’s safety and capacity and ended up choosing to work with the Chinese company. The Blade battery is now one of the selling points of BYD cars.

Despite having worked with BYD for years, Apple reportedly backed out of the partnership and considered systems from other companies.

More on the Apple Car project

With the Apple Car project now canceled, many people involved in the project have now revealed details about it. The idea of building a car allegedly came up at Apple in 2014, and the company had discussions with a lot of automakers such as Mercedez-Benz, Volkswagen and even Tesla to seek their help.

The project has had a lot of variations since its first concept. Due to the challenges of building a fully autonomous car as Apple executives wanted, the company later reconsidered the project with a less ambitious approach. Still, building a car seemed too complicated for Apple, and the company put an end to the Titan project.

Estimates suggest that the car project cost Apple more than $1 billion a year, while the company planned to sell its car for around $120,000.