Starting off the New Year Right
I’m back! After some time to think and some new releases in the car world, I thought I would start off the new year with something more cautionary. While some say that this car is ambitious, I am leaning towards being skeptical of the hype. For the record, I do support this car and can’t wait to see if it is a success.
The car in subject is Faraday Futures new FF 91 SUV. Do you guys remember these guys? I wrote about them several times. They made that bonkers FF Zero 1 hypercar concept and are backed by chinese billionaire Jia Yueting.
FF 91 is Faraday’s jab at the Model X. From the outside, they literally just stretched out the Model X and pressed down the roof. They also gave it a wider stance and some really funky wrap around LED headlights (Audi take note). But there is the same super long front windshield as in the Tesla Model X.
The only thing really cool is that there are no side mirrors. That’s right, this baby relies solely on cameras located where the mirrors would be and presents the augmented reality to the driver. Interesting...
So just one differing feature so far...is anyone else a little skeptical that these guys are fake?
There weren’t that many details on the interior but expect an open seating pattern since this SUV is autonomous (no driver!).
Oh, autonomous tech in this car is modest. There is a LiDAR sensor that pops up from the hood for full autonomous driving and the car can summon itself (like a Tesla). When Jia Yueting was trying to demonstrate how he could move the car with his phone, it didn’t work.
But there is more. Nick Sampson, their SVP of Product Research and Development, basically said that they are a tech company, not a car company. Geez, did you just copy and paste the wise words of Elon Musk? Plus, this did sound kind of cheesy since in today’s time, everyone just wants to be labeled as a startup.
But I digress. Faraday, with their “revolutionary” battery technology, are claiming over 450 miles of range on one charge and a 0-60 time of 2.39 seconds. This would make it faster than a Porsche 918 Spyder and a Model X P100D Ludicrous. Ok, this is just a little fishy. They did show a video of the thing beating a Model X down the strip, but we have no clue what type of Model X it was. It could have been a 75D with only 5 miles left of range and AC on full blast.
Faraday Future will definitely need to be scrutinized. They are under heavy fire already by critics and are being sued by suppliers for scamming them out of contracts. Plus, they had to stop construction on their mega factory in Nevada (literally building a mega factory for production just like Tesla did). Jia Yueting had to tell his employees at his own companies that there may be some financial troubles since he was running out of cash funding Faraday Future.
Startups are increasingly focusing on only getting good PR. Companies like Theranos who scammed investors out of more than $500 million on false promises and shady results of life changing, too good to be true products. That’s why Faraday decided to launch the car at CES. There has been so much hype around Faraday that people are wondering if it can really take on Elon. They were even featured on CNBC!
**Side note, Tesla shares actually are up 7.17% this week as investors feel that Faraday isn’t really a threat.**
Guys, just be cautious of Faraday Future. They do have a promising future if they distinguish themselves from their competitor that they are trying to kill. Anyway, make sure you guys check out the Detroit Auto Show starting January 8, possibly a new Audi Q8.
