Correction (January 4th, 19:27): An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Faraday Future is backed by LeEco. Jia Yueting, founder of LeEco, is an investor in Faraday Future. LeEco and Faraday Future are strategic partners.
Faraday Future, the electric car startup backed by LeEco’s billionaire founder Jia Yueting, has revealed its first production vehicle, the FF 91, at an exclusive event prior to CES 2017.
Built upon the company’s proprietary powertrain system Variable Platform Architecture (VPA), FF 91 features 130 kWh of battery energy, which the supports a range of 378 miles, the company claims. Peak motor power is 783 kW, equating to 1050 HP, allowing the vehicle to go from 0 to 60 mph in a blink of 2.39 seconds, quicker than Tesla’ Model S P100D, which can reach 60 mph in 2.4 seconds.
Through their partnership with LeEco, Faraday Future wants the FF 91 to be a smart and connected vehicle. It is capable of remembering drivers’ personal preferences, such as seating positions, favorite music and movies, ideal temperature, and driving style settings to ensure users have a consistent experience. Facial recognition technologies are also integrated to auto-prompt car settings.
The company says that production of the FF 91 is planned to start in 2018; they are now accepting reservations.
Despite the exciting specs and sleek design, many remain skeptical about whether the company can actually deliver the car on schedule or if they’ll be able to ship at given recent troubles.
The carmaker has been drowning in a raft of bad press as of lately with reports of senior employees leaving and factory delays in Nevada due to unpaid bills of millions of dollars. Similarly, LeEco, the Chinese company that’s bankrolling Faraday Future, is also experiencing its own troubles amid a cash crunch and layoffs.
Image credit: Faraday Future