Tencent Holdings, Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) and China Harmony Auto Holding have entered a partnership to explore the development of an electric vehicle.

Announced earlier this week by billionaire Tencent Chairman Ma Huateng, the partnership will explore options for an electric car. Tencent, the creator of QQ and WeChat, will most likely work on the software and batteries for the electric car.

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Foxconn is the largest manufacturer in China, with more than 1.5 million employees working day-and-night on iPhone, iPad, Xbox One and other device manufacturing.

Having Foxconn on Tencent's side will allow rapid production of the electric car, to counteract Tesla Motors' move into the country, and rivals Alibaba and Baidu's own electric vehicle launches.

Electric cars are highly anticipated in China due to the huge smog issues affecting major cities; however, issues with charging availability have plagued Tesla's early sales in the region.

Tencent might be able to counteract this by working with state gas stations and housing to make sure electric charging spots are plentiful. Considering Tesla has opened up its patents for fast electric charging, it shouldn't be that hard to install a few hundred stations.

No word yet if the electric car would feature any autonomous features like Baidu's own car, apparently coming later this year. Tencent has the software department to push these self-driving features, but Chinese regulators still have not approved self-driving cars.

TagsFoxconn, Electric Car