A few months after the surprise cancellation of an autonomous car project, we learned that Apple had worked with the Chinese giant BYD for a battery project.
We ultimately don’t know much about the famous Apple Car project as Apple has never officially expressed itself on the subject. However, the company nevertheless canceled its plans at the start of the year, redirecting some of its employees to other projects.
Above all, Apple abandoned its California license which allowed it to operate autonomous cars in the American state. But if Apple has definitely said goodbye, that does not prevent other information from emerging.
Apple’s billions to BYD’s profits
According to information from Bloomberg, Apple has worked “for years” with the Chinese manufacturer BYD.
Together, they would have developed long-lasting batteries, enabling significant technological advances. The partnership dates back to 2017, when the two parties imagined a battery using lithium iron phosphate cells, which promises greater autonomy, but also better safety on electric vehicles.
The development has in any case allowed BYD to carve out a comfortable place for itself on the market, in particular by holding all the rights and patents around these batteries, “Blades”, which equip the manufacturer’s vehicles.
Between 2017 and 2023, Apple would have spent lavishly: more than a billion dollars per year.
For its part, BYD can therefore boast of having improved its own equipment, even if the Chinese manufacturer is still struggling to break through, particularly in the face of Tesla or European vehicles. Deprived of an ecological bonus and taxed more than others, BYD explained that it would absorb the increase in taxation so as not to pass it on to the price to the consumer. The manufacturer is still far behind the others, having a little more than 1% market share in France.
