Taiwanese multinational electronics Hon Hai, commonly known as Foxconn (or the maker of the Apple iPhone), announced its MIH Open Platform late last year. Only five months later we are learning that in 2022, Foxconn plans to produce electric buses underpinned with the MIH Open Platform. Following the electric buses, the Taiwanese company is expected to introduce a C-segment electric SUV, which along with the buses, will be under Foxconn’s brand for electric vehicles, Foxtron.
The press release mentions at least 398 partners aside from Hon Hai and Taiwanese automaker and importer Yulon, at the first MIH Alliance gathering, who helped in developing the MIH. In all five continents, there should be more than 1,200 companies involved currently.
CEO of the MIH Alliance, Zheng Xiancong, was one of the co-founders of Weilai, better known as Nio. Since his time working for Nio, Xiancong joined Foxconn in January 2021.
Prior to Foxconn and Nio, Xiancong worked for Ford and became the vice president of Fiat China Global Purchasing Center. He was also the general manager of GAC Fiat Chrysler.
Xiancong voiced his excitement for the MIH Open Platform saying: “We will strive to figure out a high-standard, high-efficiency, and high-speed way of doing things, and lead the alliance and industry partners to move forward together to create a new generation of electric vehicle ecological chain!”
Some of the names involved and mentioned by Xiancong included Microsoft, Bosch, and NVIDIA, among others. In addition to giving credit where credit is due, the executive also touched on the principles that underpin the MIH Open Platform: openness, export, and neutrality.
According to the company, openness would “avoid duplication of investment, reduce development costs, shorten development time, and enable EV products to enter the market faster and to be more competitive” in the Taiwan EV industry.
Being that Taiwan in such a small market, they will need to focus on selling vehicles to other markets, making exporting a key factor as well. This will aid in allowing its partners to apply its principles where they are competitive.
In regards to neutrality, all partners will have equal rights to the platform, being that it is now an alliance and will become an independent organization in July 2021.
A membership meeting will be held in June and the MIH Alliance will become an independent organization in July. The MIH Alliance is expected to present the EVKit in October, the same day it was first announced.
With the arrival of the New EVKit in October, Foxtron will start releasing its other products, the first of which is expected to be an electric bus. Pictured below, the first buses will hit the asphalt come 2022. The first passenger EV will will see from Foxtron should be a C-segment electric SUV.
Chief Technology Officer of the MIH Alliance, Wei Guozhang, reiterated during the meeting that “standardization, modularization, and platformization will greatly reduce the entry barriers for the development of electric vehicles.”
The MIH Alliance aims to “create a generation of electric vehicles in which everyone has the opportunity to participate.”