Faraday Future, an electric car startup, operates in relative secrecy. The company’s secretive nature ended on Tuesday when the automaker revealed its first production vehicle at CES 2017.
The company aims to overtake Tesla with fast-charging, speedy electric vehicles. Jia Yueting, a Chinese billionaire, is Faraday Future’s backer. The company will take reservations for their FF91 model with an expected delivery in 2018. Consumers will pay a $5,000 deposit to secure their vehicle.
Prices of the FF91 were not revealed.
The company focused on the vehicle’s specifications. The FF91 has a 378-mile range, outpacing Tesla’s range of 315 miles. European testing standards produced a 435-mile range. The vehicle can reach 60 mph in a mere 2.39 seconds.
An acceleration demonstration took place in front of the audience.
The company made no mention of recent reports of financial difficulty. Reports suggest that the company missed payments to suppliers. The company lost two main executives in December: executive chief brand Marco Mattiaci and VP of product marketing Joerg Sommer.
Spending cuts were to blame for the departure. Yeuting admitted to overspending, and reports suggest he failed to deliver promised funding. The missed funding resulted in missed payments to the company’s factory under construction in Nevada.
Faraday Future calls their new vehicle a “new species.” The vehicle outperforms Tesla in benchmarks. The company displayed the FFZero1 concept car at CES 2016.
The FF91’s charging system allows the vehicle to go from 50% charge to full charge in 4.5 hours using a standard home electrical outlet. The FF91 is not autonomous, but the vehicle does offer sensors to make driving safer.
The vehicle includes 10 HD cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and 13 radars. The vehicle also includes a last-based detection system on the hood. The vehicle is self-parking.
An official release date for the FF91 is slated for some time in 2018.
