According to Taiwanese supply chain sources cited by Economic Daily News, Apple plans to release the Apple Car in September 2021, at least two years earlier than the original plan.
The key supply chain in Taiwan confirmed that Apple expects to release the Apple Car in September next year, at least two years earlier than the original plan. Its prototype has been tested on the roads in California, USA.
Although the Taiwanese factories named are quite low-key, many domestic auto parts factories have recently begun to “move up”, revealing the news of the upcoming Apple Car order. Among them, Heda’s new plant in Dapu Meiyuan, Chiayi is accelerating the deployment of AI intelligent production lines, and six new production lines will be put into operation in the second quarter of next year.
Heqin is also actively expanding production across the strait. Taiwan’s Quanxing plant is expected to complete the relocation and mass production by the end of the year, and the expansion of the fifth workshop of the Jiaxing Hexin plant is scheduled to complete the relocation in the second quarter of next year.
Futian’s second phase plant in Tongluo is expected to be put into operation next year. The production capacity of electric vehicle power motor components for the first and second phase plants can be increased from the current 400,000 sets per year to 1 million sets in one fell swoop, and the power integration system will increase to more than 400,000 sets.
According to the executives of a major electric vehicle supply chain manufacturer, with the order shipment and assembly completed, dozens of Apple Car’s first prototype cars have been secretly tested on the road in California.
MacDailyNews Take: If we see an “Apple Car” in 2021, that would certainly be a huge surprise as we would’ve expected far more leaks by now. It takes years to develop a new vehicle, even for seasoned automakers, which provides a huge amount of time over which leaks are guaranteed to occur.