Apple's next big project is better batteries, possibly for the iCar

Apple car

The last few days have seen rumours of an Apple-made car begin to swirl, and the latest twist in the Apple story adds some credence to that.

Electric vehicle battery manufacturer A123 has just filed a lawsuit against Apple for poaching some of its engineers for its own battery project.

"Apple is currently developing a large-scale battery division to compete in the very same field as A123," reads the lawsuit

It later states: "They are doing so in an effort to support Apple's apparent plans to establish a battery division that is similar if not identical to A123's, in competition with A123."

On page 6, the filing claims that Apple also battery tech-savvy employees at Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Toshiba.

Road wars

Several days ago we reported that a number of Apple employees had been tasked to work on an electric iCar to compete with Tesla's.

Apple is yet to speak up about the allegations, but even if this is true, we can't be 100% certain it's for a car.

Battery tech is an area that still needs to be cracked, meaning Apple could also be looking into ways to improve the technology in its iPhones and Watches, the latter of which needs it more than anything else.

But if a car is in the works, it's likely to still be a long while before we see it. Remember how many years we spent reporting on rumours of the Apple Watch? And even that's still not out...

Via Reuters

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.