Apple's Battery Chief Leaves For Volkswagen

Turmoil continues at Apple for its much-hyped project titan - which is basically code for its self-driving electric car project. This time around Soonho Ahn, its global battery development chief has left the company for Volkswagen. Ahn had joined Apple from Samsung only in 2018 and was said to be helping develop some cutting-edge battery technology that is used in the iPhone and its laptops. It is quite possible he was helping develop batteries for the Apple Car as well. This news comes after Doug Field, its de facto day-to-day boss for the Apple Car, left for a senior executive role at Ford.

Ahn is a veteran of the battery industry having cut his teeth as the top executive at Samsung SDI, which is one of the largest battery players in the world. As of now, many expect the Apple Car to launch sometime this decade but at its most optimistic rumors suggest a 2024 and 2025 timeline for the launch of the project.

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While Apple hasn't openly admitted it is developing battery technology in-house, Tim Cook, its CEO, did recently say, "I wouldn't want to rule anything out. It's more of whether or not we see our way clear to doing something that is materially better."

For Ahn, Volkswagen could be attractive as it plans on building 6 battery plants in Europe and has plans to usurp Tesla as the world's biggest EV maker by 2025. Apple has been courting CATL and BYD quite unsuccessfully to supply its batteries for the Apple Car which could be a huge issue for the Cupertino-based giant.