Hyundai has said it is in early talks with Apple after local media reported an electric car and battery tie-up between the two businesses, said Reuters.

The news pushed Hyundai shares up by around 25 per cent.

Last month it was reported that Apple plans to launch a self-driving passenger car that could include its own battery technology by 2024.

On Friday Korea Economic Daily TV said that Apple and Hyundai were in talks to develop electric vehicles by 2027 and batteries at US factories operated by either Hyundai or its affiliate Kia Motors, said the news organisation.

The car manufacturer said: “Apple and Hyundai are in discussion, but as it is early stage, nothing has been decided.”

The company did not say what the discussions were about and “omitted a reference in an earlier statement to Apple being in discussions with other global automakers as well as Hyundai.”

Reuters said that in a regulatory filing issued later, Hyundai said it was “getting requests for cooperation on joint development of autonomous electric vehicles from various companies”, without identifying any of them.

Apple is not the only BigTech company dabbling in autonomous vehicle technology; in December Amazon publicly unveiled its autonomous ride-hailing robotaxi ‘Zoox.’

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