The electric car start-up company Faraday Future announced the official start of production of the luxury electric car FF 91 Futurist. At this point, it has been more than six years since FF released the first FF 91 Futurist. Workers pushed the FF 91’s body-in-white frame onto the stage at the launch site, but the assembly line was nowhere to be seen.
While the start of production is an important milestone for an electric car startup, Faraday Future did not say how many cars it could produce in a day or a week, nor did it forecast a single season or year of production.
Faraday Future did not disclose how many people have actually ordered the car so far. The company had admitted in May 2022 that there were only 401 pre-orders, not the more than 14,000 it said in 2021. And Faraday Future did not show the complete production car at the conference, but let employees push the white body frame of an FF 91 Futurist to the stage. Also, the company didn’t show the car assembly line, only how the robots would do the welding.
Jia Yueting, the founder of Faraday Future, said at the press conference, “As a subverter of the traditional ultra-luxury car culture, the production of FF 91 Futurist marks the most solid step for Faraday Future. This is the promise we have made to users and shareholders, and we have successfully delivered on that commitment today.”
Foreign media analysis believes that Faraday Future has not really started production, and perhaps FF 91 Futurist is only partially put into production, not full production.
Just four months ago, Faraday Future’s ability to “go as a going concern” and the delivery time of the FF 91 were questioned by investors. At the time, Faraday Future had just concluded a board reshuffle following a series of disputes with its largest shareholder over corporate governance.
A Faraday Future spokesman said the company will start delivering current cars to customers by the end of April 2023.
Faraday Future’s first electric car is expected to hit the Chinese and U.S. markets simultaneously. The company uses a direct sales model, but says customers can take test drives at Faraday Future and its partner showrooms or experience centers.
Faraday Future said that the company will “soon” launch its first flagship brand experience center project in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, USA. Sales efforts this year will begin in the Los Angeles metro area, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area, and then the New York metro area. In addition, Faraday Future will initially sell cars in Shanghai and Beijing, the company said.
Faraday Future also said that the FF 91 Futurist’s electric vehicle components, as well as computing, sensing, communication components and user interface, have recently undergone “significant upgrades.”
It is reported that FF 91 Futurist is benchmarked against Ferrari, Maybach, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, with a maximum power of 1050 horsepower, an EPA-certified cruising range of 381 miles (about 613 kilometers), and an acceleration time of 0 to 100 kilometers in less than 2.3 seconds. At present, Faraday Future has not announced the specific price of FF 91 Futurist, but consumers can pre-order through the US website with a deposit of $1,500 or $500.
