New details emerge about Apple Car
- More rumors have emerged about Apple’s secretive partnership with Hyundai-Kia for the production of Apple Car.
- Apple is planning to invest $3.6 billion in Kia, Bloomberg said.
- The first Apple Car is likely to be a fully autonomous vehicle without the need of a driver, and is believed to have a chassis based on Hyundai's E-GMP battery electric vehicle platform.
- However, the Apple Car is predicted not to make its debut any sooner than late 2025, due to the more complicated development time and supply chain management.
According to CNBC's sources, Apple has decided to pursue a partnership with Hyundai-Kia, due to the fact that it gives them access to an established automaker with the ability to mass-produce vehicles in North America. The publication also highlighted that Hyundai-Kia is willing to give Apple control over both the Apple Car software and the hardware, which is allegedly a key factor in Apple’s decision.
The first Apple Car will not be designed to operate with a driver, according to a report from CNBC that cites multiple unnamed sources with knowledge of Apple's plans. "These will be autonomous electric vehicles designed to operate without a driver," said one of the people. The sources also cite that Apple is planning a full Apple-branded vehicle that includes Apple software, without any mention of Kia or Hyundai.
On top of that, earlier reports from Bloomberg also said that Apple may be about to invest $3.6 billion in Kia Motors in order for the company to collaborate on its electric car project. We had previously reported in early January that the company was in talks with Hyundai Motors to produce the vehicle, and that a deal was in "its early stages" but that "nothing [had] been decided." For reference, Hyundai owns 33.8% of Kia Motors — making the two companies somewhat linked.
In CNBC’s report, they suggested that the Apple Car will be manufactured at the Kia assembly plant in West Point, Georgia. According to them, Hyundai-Kia executives believe that working with Apple will allow them to accelerate their own autonomous and electric vehicle plans — making it a win win for both companies. However, the publication warns that no deal has yet been reached, and that Apple could decide to work with another automaker entirely — or even choose a secondary partner to work with alongside Hyundai.
According to infamous Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (reliability: 80.95%), Apple may also work with General Motors and European manufacturer PSA for future models of Apple Car in other markets. In his latest investor note, Kuo ratifies recent reports of a potential Apple Car partnership with Hyundai and even adds that he believes Apple's first vehicle chassis will be based on Hyundai's E-GMP battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform.
Hyundai’s E-GMP platform supports up to two motors, and includes five-link rear suspension, battery cells that can provide a range of over 500km, an integrated drive axle, and the ability to charge up to 80% within 18 minutes. According to CNBC, a high performance model based on E-GMP is capable of accelerating from 0-60 miles per hour in less than 3.5 seconds, with a top speed of 160 miles per hour.
According to MacRumors:
Apple's deep collaboration with current automakers (Hyundai Group, GM, and PSA) who have extensive development, production, and qualification experience will significantly shorten the Apple Car development time and create a time-to-market advantage. We believe that Apple will leverage current automakers' resources and focus on self-driving hardware and software, semiconductors, battery-related technologies, form factor and internal space designs, innovative user experience, and the integration with Apple’s existing ecosystem.
Kuo predicts that the design and production for some Apple Car components will be manufactured under the supervision of Hyundai — with Kia providing the U.S. production line. However, Kuo later proposed that Apple may struggle to launch the Apple Car in 2025 — mainly due to the more complicated development time and supply chain management involved with electric vehicles.
According to MacRumors:
We predict that Apple will launch the Apple Car in 2025 at the earliest. The new iPhone takes about 18–24 months from initial specification definition to mass production based on experience. Given the longer development time, higher validation requirements, more complicated supply chain management, and very different sales/after-sales service channels for the automobiles, we believe that Apple, which lacks car building experience, is already on a tight schedule if it wants to launch the Apple Car in 2025.
Interestingly, Kuo said that Apple will market the vehicle as a "very high-end" model, or "significantly higher-end" than standard electric vehicles. He later stated that Foxconn, which has already sunk billions into the development of electric vehicle parts, will not be involved in Apple Car assembly or casing orders.
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