Apple Helped Chinese Carmaker BYD Work On Advanced Long-Range Batteries

Apple has spent roughly ten years and ten billion dollars developing an electric vehicle. The result? The project was cancelled. It has now been revealed that the tech giant has spent many years working with Chinese carmaker BYD on advanced long-range batteries. Simply put, Apple helped the Chinese develop advanced electric car technologies.

The American tech giant and BYD reportedly began collaborating in 2017. and created a battery system using lithium-iron-phosphate cells. Apple engineers are said to have brought expertise in advanced battery packs to the project, while BYD has contributed its knowledge of lithium-iron-phosphate cells and manufacturing.

Bloomberg reports that Apple and BYD collaborated after the Chinese automaker’s engineers showed Apple executives an early version of the Blade battery, which is currently used in its electric vehicles. Apple was impressed and believed it could use BYD’s cells with its design for the rest of the battery. Apple initially thought it could adapt and improve the Blade battery to increase the range of electric vehicles.

BYD and Apple have not confirmed the cooperation. BYD insists that the Blade battery technology is their design. At the beginning of the year, Apple bosses officially decided to abandon the electric vehicle project.

• Also See: iPhone Maker Apple Kills Its Electric Car Project Amid Major Automaker’s Brake On EVs Push