Foxconn Wants to Make EV Trucks For Tesla and Apple

Photo: Foxconn

Foxconn has two more EV concepts to add to its growing list of electric cars, including a fully-electric pickup called the Model V. The Taiwanese company rolled out the new EV truck at this year’s Hon Hai Tech Day alongside a small EV crossover called the Model B.

The Foxconn Model V looks like a midsize pickup truck that’ll come in a double cab build, and Foxconn says it’ll be able to “traverse all terrains.” That means it could feature AWD, and the company also says the truck will have a payload of up to 2,000 pounds and max tow rating of 6,000.

Photo: Foxconn

The Foxconn Model B will be a small EV crossover, and other than a low drag coefficient of 0.26 and 280-mile range, the Model B’s specs are unknown. The two new models are concepts for now, but Foxconn also highlighted the Model C, which went from a concept last year to production model this year. The Model C will sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds, and has an impressive range of 435 miles. It’s reportedly going to be Taiwan’s first EV to make it to production, and is set to hit roads early next year as the Luxgen n7.

It’s a little strange that an EV with 15,000 preorders in two days, as Reuters reports, will not be sold under its own badge, but it hints at Foxconn’s plan to be the biggest EV maker you’ve never heard of. Foxconn doesn’t want to design, produce and sell its own EVs in Taiwan or anywhere else — not even under its auto-focused Foxtron subsidiary.

Photo: Foxconn

Foxconn wants to build EVs for startups or other small companies who will design their own electric cars that the Taiwanese company can then scale into production on an open platform. Foxconn wants to leverage its production expertise and massive supply chain to make EVs for companies around the world, maybe even Tesla.

Elon Musk would just as likely open a Gigaplant in Taiwan before letting an OEM partner build Teslas wholesale, but Foxconn is famously (and infamously) the production partner for tech giant Apple.

Foxconn makes iPhones, MacBooks, iPads and many more devices for Apple and other tech companies. And it wants to branch out to electric cars and adjacent industries, according to Reuters, which cites Foxconn CEO Young-Way Liu saying:

Based on our past records for the PC and cellphone markets … we’re at about 40-45% of the overall market share. So, ambitions-wise, hopefully we are able to achieve the same kind of achievement like in the ICT (information and communications technology) industry, but we will start small, which is about 5% in 2025.

[…]

I hope one day we can do Tesla cars for Tesla.

Foxconn wants to convince others that it can transition to making electric cars, but that’s a bit harder than making consumer electronics. So, it’s been designing and showcasing EVs at its annual Hon Hai Tech Day event since 2020; Hon Hai Technology Group is Foxconn’s trade name.

This year, that was just the Model B and V, but the company showed three concepts last year, including an electric bus called the Model T that’s already in service in Taiwan. Signed, sealed, delivered. Yeah, I’d say even if Tesla doesn’t want Foxconn as an OEM, the company’s EV efforts are making out just fine.

Photo: Foxconn