Apple car preview? Foxconn debuts first Foxtron EV models

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn has unveiled two electrified passenger vehicles and a bus under the new Foxtron badge.

A joint-venture with Taiwanese car maker Yulon Motor Co, Foxtron is the latest evidence of Foxconn’s determination to become a player in the EV market.

Foxconn, which is best known for making Apple iPhones, has recently also announced its own open-source EV platform and purchased the Lordstown assembly plant in Ohio (USA) where it plans to build the Lordstown Endurance pick-up and a proposed model for EV start-up Fisker.

The three concept vehicles presented were the Model C SUV, the Model E sedan and the Model T electric bus (no word on what Ford will thing of those names, although the Tesla Model 3 was initially planned to be called the Model E before Ford objected). There were no details provided about powertrains for the new Foxtron models, apart from some ambit performance claims (see below).

Speculation has already begun that Foxconn’s push into EV making and its iPhone expertise put it in the box seat to build the much speculated Apple car if it ever makes it to production.

Foxconn said a production version of the SUV will be sold by Yulon in Taiwan from 2023, the Model E will be sold overseas under another as yet unspecified badge and the Bus will become a Foxtron and enter service in 2022.

The 5+2 seater Model C is the first vehicle built on the new open-source platform and is 4.64 meters long with a wheelbase of 2.86 metres.

It has a 0.27 drag coefficient, accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds and delivers an impressive claimed range of 700km, although Foxconn did not specify what test protocol that result was derived from.

The Model E, jointly developed with Italian design firm Pininfarina (which is planning its own EV hypercar), is a luxury flagship sedan which can transform its rear seat space into a dedicated mobile office.

The Model E delivers a claimed power output of about 560kW, 0-100 km/h acceleration in just 2.8 seconds and a 750km range between recharging (all unverified claims).

Foxtron Vice Chairman Tso Chi-sen told reporters at the launch event that electric vehicles would be worth a trillion Taiwan dollars to Foxconn in five years’ time – a figure equivalent to almost $50 billion.