The Taiwanese company best known for manufacturing the iPhone is getting into cars.
Foxconn’s first electric car has leaked on Autohome ahead of its official debut on October 18.
With a four-door coupe profile and what looks like a Pininfarina badge on its flanks, it’s not hard to see the electric sedan going head-to-head with the Lucid Air and Tesla Model S.
It’s not expected to reach production until 2023, at which point it could be built in Thailand, source of most Australian utes, or at Foxconn’s controversial factory in Wisconsin, USA.
Under the skin will sit Foxconn’s first vehicle platform, dubbed MIH.
The architecture supports wheelbases between 2750mm and 3100 mm, and supports a variety of track widths and ride heights.
Battery packs with 93kWh, 100kWh and 116kWh can be installed.
A variety of electric motors can be employed, with the initial range consisting of front motors with up to 200kW of power, and rear motors with up to 340kW.
Likening the Tesla range to the “iPhone of EV”, the company wants its platform to be the “Android of EV”.
In order to bring the Android model to electric vehicles, Foxconn plans to make the architecture open to auto manufacturers to access, program and modify.
The company has already announced plans to build cars for Fisker and Geely.
By making its components available to use off-the-shelf, Foxconn is hoping to dramatically reduce the costs of developing and designing new electric cars.
The platform supports over-the-air software updates, vehicle-to-anything communication, 5G internet connectivity, and self-driving car technology.
Foxconn claims it’s working with others on solid-state batteries, a technology which promises to both greatly decrease cost and charging time, and hopes to have it available by 2024.
