Apple is reportedly about to announce a $3.6b contract with Kia bringing it closer to its dream of making electric cars in Georgia from 2024. A local newspaper DongA says the news could be broken as early as February 17 and that right now, both companies are just finalising the details of the agreement.
Apple plans to make at least 100,000 cars a year and contract to reports that it was going to sign a deal with Hyundai, its actually with South Korean car maker, Kia. Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla has said he offered the company to Apple years ago but was turned down but now it looks like Apple is now looking to bring the fight to Tesla instead. Apple has a strong ecosystem of applications and hardware that can make the driving experience even more pleasurable but it has a steep hill to climb. Tesla stands in the first position in the first half of the year 2020. With 179,050 units sold, this EV manufacturer makes up for 28% of the market share. There is high consumer demand for Tesla’s cars due to their innovative technology, modern design, and high performance. That said, Apple has both the money and manpower to bring the challenge to Tesla.
The Apple-Kia deal may closely look like the Apple-Foxconn relationship where Apple does most of the design and software installations and Foxconn makes the gadget itself. Kia may be supplying parts for the Apple Car and as expected the software will strictly be powered by Apple.
The reports that Apple was building a vehicle go back to 2015, when news broke of Project Titan, an Apple electric vehicle project. At first, the organization had a large number of designers and engineers chipping away at a wide range of segments in the building process including steering wheels and door designs.
The news is not surprising that Apple is signing a contract with a car maker as it has taken a much more aggressive approach lately on its car project. They have approached some Tesla executives and even recently hired Porsche’s VP of chassis development. The rumours even became rife when in December that the iPhone maker had come up with a breakthrough battery technology that could see it power its self driving car project.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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