Foxconn Technology, which signed a 7-year deal with electric carmaker Fisker Inc last year, announced that it would make the collaboration's first car, the PEAR Urban Lifestyle EV, at the factory that it (Foxconn) has acquired in Ohio.
Foxconn has completed the purchase from Lordstown Motors in Ohio and signed two manufacturing agreements with the embattled American automaker. Ohio will now become the Taiwan company's first production hub for EVs in America.
Production of the PEAR, which is an acronym for 'Personal Electric Automotive Revolution', is slated to begin in 2024, and the numbers would be ramped up to be a minimum of 250,000 units a year.
Agreements between Foxconn and Lordstown
The American electric light-duty truck manufacturer Lordstown Motors is now under the government lens for allegedly misleading investors with falsified claims.
Foxconn is acquiring some of the assets with the embattled automaker through an agreement. Foxconn, in a statement said that as per the agreement, some of the employees of Lordstown Motors, will be transferred to Foxconn, which is now collaborating with other automobile makers to tap global commercial EV markets.
"In the future, Ohio will be Hon Hai's important electric vehicle manufacturing hub in North America," said the company, whose Taiwan name is Hon Hai.
Foxconn also announced the signing of a joint venture agreement for product development with Lordstown Motors, under which the Taiwanese company will invest $55 million and hold a 55% stake.
Both companies will use Foxconn's 'Mobility in Harmony Open EV Platform', an open EV ecosystem that promotes collaboration among EV makers.
Foxconn and Lordstown Motors have also entered into a contract manufacturing agreement for latter's flagship vehicle, the Endurance, a full-size, all-electric pickup truck.
PEAR plans
Meanwhile, Fisker PEAR follows the company’s first vehicle, the Fisker Ocean, which starts production in Austria in November. The Fisker PEAR will have an expected base price below $29,900 before incentives, the company said. The Los-Angeles based start-up has already joined hands with Magna Inc to make the Ocean electric vehicle starting at about $38,000.
Fisker has designed and engineered the PEAR to reduce parts for rapid, simplified manufacturing. The Fisker PEAR will be built on a new proprietary architecture. This new platform will underpin two additional models that Fisker will introduce at a later date.
"The PEAR will be a revolutionary electric vehicle that won’t fit into any existing segment. The exterior design will feature new lighting technology and a wraparound front windscreen inspired by a glider plane glass canopy, enhancing frontal vision," Fisker Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement.
"Our engineering group is working on new features and high-tech solutions for the PEAR that will change how we use and enjoy a vehicle in the city," Fisker said.
Foxconn, which had earned its spurs as iPhone assembler, has already unveiled three electric vehicle prototypes as it makes a major foray into the e-vehicles segment, hoping to make it an over $35 billion business in around five years. Foxconn has plans to build EV factories in Europe and India, too.
Before the company took the formal leap into the EV space, it had kept itself busy by supplying electronics to many traditional and electric carmakers like Tesla and BMW. It had been engaged in the development and supply of products ranging from dashboard displays to printed circuit boards plus a host of mechanical and plastic parts.
