The future car’plate’ changes… The interest of’Apple Car’

The boundaries between automakers and information technology (IT) companies are breaking down in earnest. Following the news that Apple is developing self-driving electric vehicles, this time LG Chem has joined forces with parts maker Magna International to strengthen its competitiveness.

It is expected that a fierce battle will take place in the future car market while the barriers to entry such as engines are broken. There is even a prospect that the manufacturing and development capabilities of automakers are at the test stand.

According to major foreign media such as Reuters, Apple is planning to introduce its own self-driving electric vehicle as early as 2024.

It is reported that Apple has set a goal of targeting business-consumer transactions (B2C), not business-to-business transactions (B2B). It means that the day when you will not only be buying iPhones but also’Icars’ online or in the Apple store is not too long.

Since 2014, Apple has been promoting the development of self-driving electric vehicles under the name of the’Titan Project’. Mickey Drexler, a former member of the Apple Board of Directors, said that Steve Jobs dreamed of designing’Ica’. However, there were also observations that in 2016, dozens of related personnel were fired, and that they had given up development.

Contrary to the previous forecast, the automaker industry couldn’t hide the tension when the’surprise plan’ that Apple decided to ride on an autonomous electric vehicle came out.

An official said, “If IT companies such as Apple and Baidu enter the electric vehicle market in earnest, there will be more powerful competitors like Tesla,” he said. “There are many concerns that it may be difficult to maintain the current position.”

Apple’s greatest strength is that it can make electronic equipment parts more useful in many ways.

Apple has experience using the core central processing unit (CPU) that constitutes an application processor (AP) that acts as the brain of a smartphone on the iPhone. It is up to the CPU to predict how to move during autonomous driving and to oversee a series of processes that control the accelerator and deceleration pedals.

Starting last month, they started using self-developed semiconductors for PC products such as MacBooks. A lidar sensor is applied to the iPhone 12 Pro smartphone.

The disappearance of entry barriers with the advent of the electric car era intensified the crisis for automakers. The automobile business is complicated by regulations and the barriers to entry are quite high.

Internal combustion engines operate with tens of thousands of parts in harmony. All parts must be assembled organically and returned, requiring the highest level of technology. Even a small defect can be life-threatening, so it must have high safety and strong durability, so no one can make it.

However, since electric vehicles are driven by motors instead of engines, tens of thousands of parts that were used in the engines of conventional internal combustion engines are not required.

LG Electronics announced on the 23rd that it will establish a joint venture that produces electric vehicle parts by investing 1 billion dollars (about 1,109 trillion won) with Magna International. The joint venture will produce motors and inverters (power conversion devices) and supply them to automakers.

The industry believes that when Magna International’s experience in consignment production of finished vehicles and LG Electronics’ battery technology are combined, competitiveness can be improved at once. There has been steadily raising the prospect that the label as an electric vehicle parts company without electric vehicles will be removed.

Kim Jin-woo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, “Apple cannot easily get rid of its regrets about cars. Considering the relationship between LG Electronics, Magna International, and Apple, it is possible to supply parts to Apple self-driving electric vehicles.” did.

Autonomous vehicle makers are focusing on the battery, which is a key component that influences electric vehicle performance while developing autonomous driving technology.

Hyundai-Kia Motors is securing manpower to develop, design, and secure quality, a’all-solid battery’ called the dream battery. At a conference held earlier this month, Albert Beerman, head of the Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D division, said, “We are researching solid-state batteries,” and “we will show the latest battery technology when the time comes.”

Toyota of Japan recently announced that it has developed an all-solid-state battery. Next year, it is decided to unveil the world’s first prototype electric vehicle equipped with this all-solid battery. Jim Parley, Ford Chief Executive Officer (CEO) recently stated that “we are discussing direct battery production.”

An industry insider said, “Amid the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, fierce calculations between the automaker and the parts industry that are not trying to be taken away from the lead are underpinned.” “The market is expected to change at a time when the relationship is complex and subtle.”