Apple’s talks with Chinese battery makers CATL, BYD mostly stalled: Report

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s talks with China’s CATL and BYD over battery supplies for its planned electric vehicle have been mostly stalled after they refused to set up teams and build U.S. plants that would solely cater to the tech giant, three people with knowledge of the discussions said.

The firms informed Apple sometime in the past two months that they were not able to meet its requirements, the people said. But the U.S. company has not given up hope of resuming talks with either CATL or BYD, according to one source.

Chinese battery makers are more advanced than rivals in the development of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries which are cheaper to produce and sources have previously said Apple favours this battery technology.