The iCar is still purely hypothetical, but there’s no longer any question that Apple is delving ever deeper into the automotive space. The company has invested millions of dollars in R&D, and assembled a team of nearly 1,000, including some high-profile auto industry veterans with deep experience, especially in the battery department.

The latest clue to what Apple is up to comes from the Korean media outlet etnews, which recently reported that Apple has struck a deal with an unnamed South Korean battery company that’s made up of about 20 or so “expert technologists in batteries.” The mystery firm is said to be working on a new type of cylindrical battery pack that features a hollow center.

“Because batteries create most heat from the center due to chemical reactions, this company has created batteries where air flow and cooling are smooth in the center of batteries and this can minimize installation of separate cooling devices or a device that prevents over-heating,” etnews reports. “They are also advantageous in high output. By utilizing this space, it is easy to design parallel connections to expand battery capacity.”

MORE: Apple exec: “The car is the ultimate mobile device.”

Source: etnews via BGR