A South Korean company's physical advancement in hollow-cored lithium-ion battery technology is allegedly on tap for the potential future "Apple Car" currently in development under the "Project Titan" aegis.
The company that Apple has been having the reported battery discussions with is not named in the etNews report. A high-ranking official from the unnamed company said that "because we made a NDA with Apple, we cannot discuss any information regarding this project."
Hollow-core battery technology gives a battery cell more surface area per battery volume than a closed cylindrical one, and allows for more efficient dissipation of heat generated during the normal charge and discharge cycle.
In an emergent condition, gas vented from a hollow-core battery can be conducted through the center channel for safe dispersion. Additionally, A hollow-cored cylindrical battery can also be engineered to make electrical connections in parallel or in series without soldering or welding, easing repair and potential individual battery cell replacements, as opposed to having to replace an entire bank if a single cell has failed.
Batteries made by the undisclosed company at present are the size of "two fingers" according to the report. It is not known if the hollow core technology is scaleable to a larger cell for any potential Apple Car, or how far the benefits of the technology extend as the cell size increases.
After a report of a change in expected rolloutfor the fruits of "Project Titan" from 2020 to 2021, former Apple executive Bob Mansfield appears to have taken over the project. Apple appears to be hiding the Apple Car effort under shell company SixtyEight Research, LLC in Sunnyvale, Calif.