Apple in Talks With Mercedes Benz for Apple Car Production

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 11 Jan 2021

Apple Car Inward Seats Patent

A new report claims that Apple is also talking to Mercedes-Benz to partner for the production of its self-driving electric vehicle. This report comes just a day after it was first reported that Apple was looking to partner with Hyundai for its self-driving electric vehicle and was going to sign an agreement by March 2021.

Hyundai itself had initially claimed that it was in the early stages of discussions with Apple, though its statement noted that the company was also talking to other vehicle makers. Apple is seemingly looking for a partner that has the same goal — to create a good product.

“We understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai Motor. As the discussion is at its early stage, nothing has been decided.”

It seems that Apple is currently in talks with multiple car companies and is exploring the possibility of partnering with one of them for its self-driving electric vehicle.

A Korean report had claimed that Apple was going to partner with Hyundai and sign the agreement by March 2021. As a part of the deal, Hyundai and Apple would invest in a new factory in the United States and produce 100,000 Apple Car vehicles by 2024.

A Reuters report from last December first sparked off the Apple Car rumors. It claimed that Apple has reached a “breakthrough” in battery technology that will allow it to “radically” reduce battery cost and increase the range of the vehicle substantially. This “next level” battery technology from Apple will make its debut in the self-driving vehicle platform that it is working on.

While there have been a lot of rumors about the Apple Car in recent times, Apple analyst Kuo and Bloomberg believe that the vehicle is still at least half a decade away in a best-case scenario.

[Via IT Home]