Fledgling electric car company Faraday Future has a lot riding on today’s announcement. Just in advance of CES 2017, Faraday Future announced the FF 91, its first production vehicle since the California-based company began in 2014.
The new car promises a lot. With a range of range of 378 miles or more, it also offers 1,050 HP/783 kW and, according to Faraday Future’s own tests, does zero to 60 in 2.44 seconds Connectivity is bolstered by HD screens with mobile internet with multiple CAT6 LTE modems. The car itself has more than 14 radar scanners, cameras, LIDAR, and ultrasonic sensors, including a LIDAR dome on the front that indicates whether the car is in autonomous mode or not.
That autonomous mode includes self-parking and “summon” features. Each driver or passenger signs up to interact with the car using an “FF ID,” which serves as a key and can reconfigure entertainment choices, seats, and handling for each user.
Senior vice president of research and development and engineering Nick Sampson called the FF 91 “the first of a new species.”
Unfortunately, Faraday Future’s state of being “unencumbered by corporate history” as Sampson said, also comes with some financial failures. Phase 1 of the 950-acre Nevada facility is development is finished, but Faraday Future struggled to pay their contractor.
While Sampson said the factory is going ahead to Phase 2, the FF 91 demo faced some problems as well. The self-driving feature seemingly decided not to cooperate during an attempt to park it on stage.
Visually, the car is built around the typical electric “skateboard” chassis and a midsection that vice president of design Richard Kim calls Faraday Future’s unique “UFO” styling. The wide roof window is inspired by Silcon Valley’s philosophy of making smartphones and laptops as elegant and simple as possible.
People interested in purchasing a FF 91 can sign up for an FF ID account here, and need to put down $5,000 to secure one of the cars at their predicted delivery date of 2018. There has been no word yet on the total cost.
