Faraday Future FF91 Launch

The Chinese entrepreneur said he hopes the project will help usher in a new era of mobility which is more environmentally friendly. The fastest Tesla is claimed to reach the same acceleration benchmark in 2.5 seconds.

First and foremost, performance. The FF 91 will unlock itself by recognising the driver’s face, and will learn things about its driver and continually adapt to those preferences.

Much of the presentation was spent highlighting the specifications and performance of the sports utility-like vehicle, which is meant to target the higher-end driver market and go head-to-head with competitors in the field like Tesla.

The FF 91 will be the first production vehicle to feature retractable 3D lidar, as part of a complex sensor suite which includes 10 high-definition cameras, 13 long- and short-range radars and 12 ultrasonic sensors. “And we are going to hit problems along the way and we will see them through, and we will persevere”. They’ll be auctioning the very first vehicle in March 2017. It also comes with some self-driving features, including the ability to park itself. “As a new baby, she’s very very timid”, said Nick Sampson, vice president of engineering. Wireless charging is also being “rapidly developed”.

Faraday Future also claims the battery has the highest density of any in the EV market, as well as the fastest charging speed now available. According to the company’s claims, this 1,050 horsepower (783KW) vehicle can go from 0-60 in 2.39 seconds.

Faraday Future says interested shoppers can now put down a $5,000 deposit on its website for Alliance Edition models-the first 300 produced. That led some to call Faraday Future nothing but “vaporware”, a disparaging term among techies for a product that has been advertised but does not actually exist. The company’s primary backer, LeEco founder Jia Yueting, came onstage to demonstrate its autonomous driving, and the FF91 couldn’t be convinced to move.

The stakes for FF’s trip to Vegas could not be higher, if company insiders and multiple former employees speaking to numerous publications, including IBTimes UK, are to be believed.

Established in 2014, Faraday Futures presented a concept auto, the single-seat FFZERO1 at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2016, but this is the first time the company has demonstrated a production vehicle.