According to a recent report from Nikkei Asia, in January 2020, a man who claimed to be Apple’s parts manager notified Japanese auto supplier Sanden that Apple wanted to build an electric car and produce electric car and air conditioning parts.
Sanden is a leading manufacturer of automotive air-conditioning components, and Apple and Sanden went on to discuss specific component requirements, the report said. Now, however, Sanden filed for debt restructuring with creditors in June 2020 as its financial woes worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and auto talks with Apple have apparently faded.
While the report doesn’t provide any further details about the talks between the two companies, it provides further confirmation of Apple’s long-rumored EV ambitions. In November 2021, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was accelerating work on its project and targeting electric vehicles with fully self-driving capabilities.
Apple is targeting a 2025 launch, Gurman said, but the project has faced many setbacks and departures of key personnel over the years, so the time frame is uncertain.