Coming off months of uncertainty and bad news, electric car maker Faraday Future unveiled its first production vehicle to a CES audience in downtown Las Vegas Tuesday night.
“It’s about as science fiction looking vehicle as you could possibly imagine,” said Andrew J. Hawkins, the auto industry writer for Verge.com.
The company showed off its 1,000-horsepower FF91, which the company says can go from zero to 60 in 2.39 seconds.
Whether that will speed development of its planned, taxpayer-supported factory in North Las Vegas remains to be seen. Construction stopped in November on the plant, which received $335 million in tax breaks and infrastructure commitments from the Nevada Legislature.
Hawkins said the event was one of the most lavish and over-the-top launches he has seen. However, that hype now comes with expectations.
“They went back to sort of raising expectations for themselves to a very high degree, which is what they did last year and it kinda of blew up in their face,” he said.
Nick Sampson, the public face of the company, did not address some of those concerns during the launch event, but he did field questions about the turmoil during a news conference following the event.
Hawkins said Sampson defended the company said production was going to move forward, but questions of credibility remain.
“It’s really going to be about confidence in their ability to mass produce this vehicle, and they do not have that capability right now,” he said.
Along with its muscular specs, Faraday executives also announced last night that it is taking $5,000 deposits on the FF91, with delivery in 2018.
Hawkins said the event wasn't just for the news media to get a look at the car, but it was also for investors to see what the company could do.
“It absolutely was an attempt to put on a very lavish display for investors,” he said. The company wanted to show that it was working on the transportation technology of the future, “but they’re really going to have to live up to that hype, that’s going to be on them.”
Andrew J. Hawkins, auto writer, TheVerge.com