Foxconn is planning to launch a driver assistance feature similar to Tesla and Nissan Motor sometime later this year. The company has plans to increase its autonomous capability by 2022. Foxconn’s new plan is to produce a kit, including software and hardware, that will help the new EV manufacturers scale up quickly. Shinpei Kato, who is in charge of Foxconn’s autonomous driving software, revealed that the EV Kit would provide Level 2 advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which are mainly concerned with automated steering, braking, and accelerating to support the driver. Level 4 autonomous driving is scheduled for 2022.
Foxconn’s MIH project includes nearly 1,700 partners, and the project is expected to cut the amount of time and resources needed to develop and produce electric cars. Companies involved include mobile chip developers Arm Holdings and Qualcomm, MediaTek, Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and leading battery provider Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Foxconn said in a news release in December that Tier IV and other MIH alliance partners would “provide Level 4 and above autonomous driving technology.” Tier IV supplies self-driving technology to Toyota Motor’s e-Palette vehicle. “It makes a lot of sense that the MIH positions [itself] in the middle, bringing together hardware and software to create a set of standards”, said Kato in a statement. He also said that the MIH will help EV parts to integrate with Tier IV-led Autoware.
Foxconn also partnered up with Stellantis in May, and with Yulon Motor in February last year. Moreover, the company also announced deals with Chinese EV manufacturer Byton Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, and American EV startup Fisker.
Kato also commented that MIH is not approaching Japanese carmakers as of now, as they believe that the automakers will themselves be interested in the project, “Japanese automakers are sitting on the fence right now. But MIH believes that as it moves forward, these carmakers will spontaneously come to the project.”
