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| Apple's car project loses battery developer |
According to his LinkedIn profile, Apple's global battery development manager Ahn Sunho has moved to Volkswagen to lead the company's electric car battery development.
This is the second time that Apple executives have been transferred to a car manufacturer in the past few months.
iPhone maker Doug Field, leader of the Apple Car Project, handed over to Ford in September.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Sunho became CTO of the battery division at Volkswagen Group Parts this month.
In 2018, Apple appointed Sunho as the former CEO of Samsung's Next Generation SDI battery business.
At the time, the company made headlines after it took over from a Samsung CEO responsible for developing next-generation batteries.
Apple uses batteries in its cell phones and laptops, as well as electric cars in development.
Reuters announced last year that Apple's goal is to bring electric cars with advanced battery technology to market by 2024.
When asked if the company plans to develop batteries and displays like chips in-house, CEO Tim Cook said in October: I don't want to rule out any possibilities. It depends on whether we see a clear way to improve financially.
After the supplier refused to build an American plant to serve the technology giant only, the American giant reached a dead end in its negotiations with China's CATL and BYD over the supply of batteries for its major projects.
Apple's auto ambitions have suffered setbacks
The Volkswagen Group has acquired two major battery technology experts from Apple and BMW. This confirms that this work is becoming increasingly important for the Wolfsburg-based company.
Volkswagen has confirmed the appointment of Sunho An as Apple's director of battery development. In addition to the expert in solid battery technology Jörg Hoffmann from BMW.
Volkswagen has also presented an ambitious plan to build six battery plants in Europe with partners by the end of this decade. At the heart of its vision is to overtake Tesla to become a global leader in electric vehicles.