Foxconn, the company best known for manufacturing iPhones and Xboxes, has previewed the third piece in what’s looking like a big automotive puzzle.
The Foxtron Model B is a Volkswagen ID.3-sized hatch designed by Pininfarina, and will sit below the Model C SUV and Model E sedan revealed last year. It’ll be revealed alongside the Model V electric ute on October 18.
Under the skin, the Model B will likely ride on the MiH platform debuted in 2021 by Foxtron, which is a tie-up between Foxconn and Taiwan’s biggest carmaker, Yulon.
Along with the aforementioned range of Foxtron cars, that platform will be offered to other carmakers looking to accelerate their electric vehicle rollout.
The architecture can have a wheelbase between 2750mm and 3100mm, and supports a variety of track and ride heights, making it suitable for sedans, hatches, crossovers, and people movers.
Battery packs with 93kWh, 100kWh and 116kWh can be installed.
A variety of electric motors can be employed at both ends, with the initial offering consisting of 95kW, 150kW and 200kW front motors, and 150kW, 200kW, 240kW and 340kW units for the rear axle.
Likening the Tesla range to the “iPhone of EV”, the company wants its EV platform to be the “Android of EV”.
Foxconn is based in Taiwan, which will serve as the initial manufacturing base for Foxtron. It’ll be building up to 500,000 cars per year in the USA by 2024, however, at an ex-General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
All 500,000 cars won’t be Foxtron electric vehicles, however; Foxconn has already been locked in as the producer of the upcoming Fisker Pear (below), and has confirmed it’s willing to manufacture vehicles under contract for other carmakers.
Scheduled to begin production in 2024, Fisker says it expects to build a minimum of 250,000 examples of the Pear annually once production ramps up.
