Faraday Future has provided nothing buy vague teasers of what its concept EV will look like. (Image: Faraday Future)
Haven’t heard of Faraday Future before? Well, you just might hear and see a lot more about the California-based electric vehicle startup-up in the near future.
The company has announced on its website that it will unveil its first concept car Jan. 4, 2016 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Faraday Future provided about as little detail on the vehicle as conceivably possible. The three sentence-long statement said that the concept will be inspired by the company’s design and engineering vision.
Faraday Future plans to release in 2017 an electric vehicle that will rival Tesla Motors’ models. Faraday Future’s perceived choice to take on Tesla makes sense considering that its Senior V.P. of R&D and Engineering, Nick Sampson, used to be Tesla’s director of Vehicle & Chassis Engineering. Faraday Future’s V.P. of Global Manufacturing, V.P. of Human Resources, and V.P. of Supply Chain also used to hold positions at Tesla. Faraday Future’s Head of Design, Richard Kim, was the lead designer for BMW’s i3 and i8 concepts.
The name of the concept vehicle hasn’t yet been disclosed, but Autocar trusts that the vehicle will have approximately 15 percent greater battery capacity than Tesla’s Model S. If those details prove to be true, the company’s concept vehicle could have a range of at least 300 miles.
On its website, Faraday Future said that its goal in vehicle design is to connect the automotive experience to the rest of a motorist’s life. “We will launch with fully-electric vehicles that will offer smart and seamless connectivity to the outside world. Beyond traditional electric vehicles, we are also developing other aspects of the automotive and technology industries, including unique ownership models, in-vehicle content and autonomous driving.”
At the recent Los Angles Motor show Richard Kim described part of his vision for the company.
“I want to touch on the simple things, the small things we can do as we wait for autonomous driving,” Kim said, as quoted by Autocar. “What can we do now? I want to see a scenario where you sit in traffic for two hours, where you’re connected, there’s aromatherapy and a really nice chair in an ergonomic position. You can get a ton of work done, watch a movie. With time, you don’t just want to connect, you want to be able to disconnect and relax.”
In an interview with Bloomberg Business, Nick Sampson said that Faraday “will launch a single model and follow with a range of vehicles in a faster way than others have achieved. We’re looking at seven different vehicles.”
Faraday Future announced in a Nov. 5 press release that it will invest $1 billion in an ultramodern manufacturing facility located in the United States. The company claims to be considering several locations for the facility, including California, Georgia, Nevada, and Louisiana. The announcement should be made soon.
“Selecting the right location for the future FF manufacturing facility is critical to our overall goals. Producing our forward-looking and fully-connected electric vehicles not only requires the latest technology, but the right community partner,” Sampson said.
The company also announced during the November statement that it hopes to examine “other aspects of the automotive and technology industries, including unique ownership and usage models, in-vehicle content and autonomous driving.”
Faraday Future plans to employ around 500 people by the end of 2015.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense
