The China-backed tech startup Faraday Future says it created the most technologically advanced electric vehicle that has all the chances to outplay the competitors.
Faraday Future, an emerging electric car manufacturer, unveiled its first "real" prototype on yesterday's Las Vegas CES tradeshow that has been a subject of rumours for the last year. The company's previous prototype presented last year was a single-seated vehicle that got a nickname "Batmobile" for its bizarre looks and was mostly perceived as completely unsuitable for the market. Luckily, the startup's new creation, FF 91, looks nothing like its last year's prototype and has something quite interesting to offer.
FF 91 will become the most technologically advanced vehicle on the market when it goes into full-scale production already next year, said Faraday Future's executives. Apart from the futuristic looks and spacious interior, the luxury electric SUV was claimed to have some outstanding technical features, to say the least. According to The Verge, the car's creators said that FF 91 can go from 0 to 60 in just 2.39 seconds, which, if proven true, would make it the fastest car built to date. On top of that, FF 91 vehicle has no handles and uses holograms to communicate with the driver.
"You're about to witness day one of a new era of mobility. We're going to show the first of a new species," said Nick Sampson, one of Faraday Future's executives, as reported by Reuters.
Although, the company put a lot of efforts over the last year to convince the public that its new car and the startup itself were not a hoax. A couple of weeks ago, Faraday Future published a teaser video showing how their camouflaged FF 91 easily outraces some quite impressive competitors like Tesla Model X, Bentley Bentayga and Ferrari 488 GTB.
However, it seems like the happenings of the last year made it even harder for Faraday Future to win credibility in the already overcrowded industry. Initially, the startup managed to attract some qualified industry professionals from Tesla, Google and other tech and auto companies while several executives reportedly departed from the company in the last months due to some internal problems.
Next to that, it failed to keep up with the payments for its $1 billion factory in Nevada whereas its owner and the main fund provider Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting also manages a rival EV company LeEco. In general, Faraday Future is very secretive when it comes to its financials. According to Reuters, the startup said it would get additional funding from LeEco's new unknown strategic investor but that statement still remains unconfirmed.
During yesterday's presentation, Jia Yueting was asked to demonstrate car's self driving feature, as he drove FF 91 on the stage. After he pushed the button to make the car drive autonomously, it refused to move at the first attempt.
Faraday Future said that FF 91 will be marketed for approximately $180,000 and is already available for reservations for a $5,000 fee.