MIH Open Platform E-car to become 'extension of home': Hon Hai

Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Hon Hai's electric car design is like "a smartphone on a mobile platform," the ultimate goal being to make the vehicle an extension of home, said Jack Cheng (鄭顯聰), chief executive officer of the Hon Hai-initiated MIH Open Platform Alliance, Saturday.

Speaking during an online live-stream session, Cheng, head of the alliance, which was formed to provide resources to other automakers and boost overall e-car development in Taiwan, said the goal is to make an e-car "a second home" for customers.

"Whatever they can do in their home, they will be able to do in an e-car," Cheng said.

In the future, all e-car passengers will be able to hold meetings, watch TV, or even play Mahjong. The future of the e-car is the "mobility world," he said.

In addition, the arrangement of seats in e-cars will also be different and as such car crash tests will need to be re-calibrated, Cheng added.

Commenting on the strengths of Hon Hai, known globally as Foxconn, when applied to building an e-car, Cheng said the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant has decades of success in information and communications technology and network communication.

"Building an e-car is like putting a new smartphone on a mobile platform," he said, adding that e-cars in the future will become "an every-day tool" like today's smartphones.

In February 2020, Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, announced a joint venture with the Yulon Group, one of the leading carmakers in Taiwan. The MIH platform was launched in October the same year.

Hon Hai has said it plans to build the platform into the "Android of the electric car industry" as part of its efforts to diversify and enter the global electric vehicle market.

Currently, more than 800 companies have joined the platform.

Hon Hai announced last week that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Fisker Inc., a U.S. electric vehicle maker, to build a new EV model under the Fisker brand, with the goal of starting mass production by the fourth quarter of 2023.

Earlier this year, Hon Hai also announced it has teamed up with Chinese carmakers Byton and Geely on the development of electric cars.

Speaking during a separate TV interview Saturday, Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) disclosed that the MIH Open Platform pushed by the company is expected to complete the design of its first electric bus in June, making its public debut in October.

Liu also said Hon Hai has joined hands with a number of foreign companies, referring to its collaborations with Fisker and Byton, enabling all MIH members to expand their business operations overseas in the future.