Apple's talks with Chinese EV battery makers CATL and BYD on pause - PingWest

Apple's talks with Chinese EV battery makers CATL and BYD on pause

Apple's talks with Chinese EV battery makers CATL and BYD on pause

October 23, 2021 5:57 am

Apple's talks with China's CATL and BYD over battery supplies for its planned electric vehicle have been mostly stalled, Reuters reported, citing three people with knowledge of the discussions.

Details:

According to the report, the two Chinese firms informed Apple sometime in the past two months that they were unable to set up teams and build US plants that would solely cater to the tech giant. 

BYD, which has an iron-phosphate battery plant in Lancaster, California, declined to build a new factory and team that would solely focus on supplying Apple, said two of the sources.

In a statement Reuters, CATL said they are evaluating the opportunity and possibility of manufacture localization in North America. 

Apple is also considering Japanese battery makers including Panasonic, and has sent a group of people to Japan this month. But it has not given up hope of resuming talks with either CATL or BYD, said the report.

Context:

Chinese companies currently dominate the production of electric vehicle batteries, producing 95% of the world's lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

CATL inked an agreement with Tesla in early 2020 as one of its battery suppliers. In 2021, it signed a new agreement to provide the American automaker with battery packs by 2025. At present, as the largest manufacturer of lithium batteries, CATL's products  are in the vehicles of almost every major global auto brands.

Founded in 1995 to make lithium batteries for consumer electronics, BYD has developed into one of the biggest producers of batteries for electric vehicles.

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