Oppo is the latest smartphone company reportedly throwing its hat into the ring to build an electric vehicle.
First reported by CarNewsChina, Oppo—the second-largest smartphone company in China–is working with automotive designers and engineers to produce a proposed EV project. Oppo founder and CEO Tony Chen even reportedly has met with CATL, Tesla’s lithium-ion battery supplier and maker.
“Even in car manufacturing, we will focus on areas that Oppo can perform well," Chen told CarNewsChina. “If automakers can’t build good cars and Oppo has the strength, we will try it in the future.”
Oppo has been dropping hints at its interest in EVs, with CnEVPost recently reporting that the company currently holds over 3,000 patents related to autonomous driving, including patents for distance measuring devices, cameras, and electronic equipment for car positioning.
Lifewire reached out to Oppo for comment on the news of an EV project. We will update this story if we hear back.
Oppo is not the first smartphone company to get into the automotive world. Most notably, Apple has been open about how its interest in an electric car project since 2016. The tech giant reportedly is aiming for a 2024 release that would include “next level” battery technology to extend driving range and efficiency.
More recently, it was reported that Chinese smartphone giant Huawei has an interest in making an EV under its brand, potentially even launching the project this year.
The interest in EVs from the tech world is clear, as evidence suggests the EV market will only grow over the coming decades.
According to a 2020 study from McKinsey, global EV sales rose 65% from 2017 to 2018. The Electric Vehicle Outlook study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that EVs will make up 10% of all passenger vehicle sales globally by 2025, increasing to 28% by 2030 and 58% by 2040.
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