Apple is once again planning to build its own branded electric vehicle or Apple Car, Reuters reported on Monday.
According to the report, production of the electric Apple Car could start as early as 2024.
The Reuters report explains that central to Apple’s strategy is a new monocell battery design that “bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules that hold battery materials.”
The iPhone maker is also examining chemistry for the battery called LFP, or lithium iron phosphate, the person told Reuters, which is inherently less likely to overheat and is thus safer than other types of lithium-ion batteries.
The Verge reported that there have been rumours of Apple developing a car going back to 2015. But in 2016, the project was scaled down significantly, with development of a full car being scrapped and Apple’s team refocusing on providing software that could be licensed out to car manufacturers, according to reports at the time. Around 200 people were laid off from Apple’s car team just last year.
Earlier this month, the iPhone maker handed control of its self-driving car project over to John Giannandrea, the company’s head of AI. Giannandrea was brought on board in 2018 to work on Siri, after previously working at Google as head of search and artificial intelligence.
