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After Math: Shady deals
It's been a heck of a week for soupy sales. In addition to all of the wild proclamations (and subsequent walk-backs) made by the Trump administration, D-Wave somehow found a buyer, California's power companies went looking for handouts, Faraday Future got itself sued already, Google banned a bunch of bunk ads and word on the street is that cassettes are the new vinyl. Numbers, because what else can you trust?
Faraday Future sued over missed payments on $2 million VR video (update)
Faraday Future may have had a new car to show off at CES earlier this month, but everyone's left Las Vegas and old problems are cropping up. Now, the company is being sued by a video effects company for failure to pay for a virtual fly-through of one of its concept vehicles. Last September The Mill gave Faraday an estimate for how much it'd cost to produce a "graphic presentation with virtual reality, augmented reality and holographic components" for January's trade show, according to court documents obtained by Jalopnik.
Tesla's Ludicrous Plus mode beats Faraday Future's 0-60 time
Faraday Future claims its FF 91 SUV will be the fastest accelerating production vehicle to date with a 0-60 mph time of 2.39 seconds, but we're going to need a more precise stopwatch if the showdown with Tesla is going to continue. In a real-world track test, the folks from Tesla Racing Channel were able to just barely edge out the FF 91's time in a Model S P100D sedan with the latest Ludicrous Plus mode update unlocked. The Tesla's new track time? A blistering 2.389 seconds -- besting Faraday by just a thousandth of a second.
Faraday Future impressed all the right people at CES
The world got its first look at the Faraday Future FF 91 SUV during a Las Vegas drag race last week. It was a fitting debut for a car that was designed and built in less than two years: It flew off the line in an event building, only to disappear out of sight a moment later. Everyone likes a good race, but for a company that's recently been hit by financial troubles and departing executives, the race it started at CES needs to be a marathon.
Faraday Future's first car secures over 64,000 reservations
EV-maker Faraday Future says it has received 64,124 reservations for the car it unveiled at CES within 36 hours of the event. Sure, that's nowhere near the 232,000 pre-orders Tesla got for Model 3 in a day, but we're talking about company that has yet to release a product -- in fact, the model it presented at CES (an SUV called the FF 91) is its first car ever. Sadly, Faraday Future didn't say how many paid $5,000 for priority reservation and how many opted for the free standard option. That means we also can't say if it racked up enough money to keep going.
A whirlwind tour of Faraday Future's ambitious new SUV
"Just a quick reminder that there are no pictures during today's tour." Faraday Future has had its share of bad press. Right before Christmas it invited a group of journalists to tour its headquarters in Gardena, California. The new company was unveiling its first real car at CES in a few weeks. But instead of wowing the world with its nonstop teaser videos, the company's shedding of executives and reports about its financial turmoil drew the most attention. Faraday needed to make a big impression ahead of CES while also ensuring that the technology-drenched FF 91 SUV and the secret sauce behind it were kept under wraps until its big press conference, scheduled for Jan. 3rd in Las Vegas.
Faraday Future unveils an actual car
It's happened. Faraday Future has unveiled its high-tech electric FF 91 SUV. Interested parties can place a refundable $5,000 deposit on the car right now, with production starting in 2018. With a range of 378 miles (it has a 130kWh pack), all-wheel drive, all-wheel turning and 1,050 horsepower, it clearly has the Telsa Model 3 in its sights.
Faraday Future could be out of business by February
Last we heard, Faraday Future was going through a rough patch in regards to building its manufacturing facility in Nevada. Now, it appears the electric vehicle company's troubles are worse than anticipated. The key theme, across report from Buzzfeed News, Jalopnik and The Verge is money. Specifically, a lack thereof. Faraday has a heap of unpaid bills, lawsuits from vendors and a landlord in addition to losing senior employees. Owed cash is in the hundreds of millions, and it looks like if the company can't secure more funding after CES next month, Faraday Future will be done for by February.
Watch Faraday Future's prototype race Bentley, Ferrari and Tesla
Faraday Future is going more than a little overboard with promo pieces for its production electric car ahead of its January unveiling, but its latest clip at least has some substance. The fledgling automaker has posted a video showing its prototype EV drag racing against some hot competition: Tesla's Model X P100D (the obligatory electric rival), Bentley's Bentayga SUV and Ferrari's 488 GTB. It won't shock you to hear that Faraday Future's car wins each of these showdowns (why make the video if it lost?), but that's good news for acceleration junkies. It means that FF's vehicle is quicker off the line than even the Model X, which can hit 60MPH in 2.9 seconds using Ludicrous Mode.
Recommended Reading: How Russia hacked the US
The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the US Eric Lipton, David E. Sanger and Scott Shane, The New York Times Within the last week, the CIA, Obama administration and FBI have all agreed that Russian intervened in the presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump. The White House went so far as to say that the cyberattacks were directed by president Vladimir Putin himself. The New York Times offers a detailed look at the Russian hack of the DNC which led to emails and other documents making it into the hands of WikiLeaks and other websites.
Faraday Future delays EV production plant in Nevada
Construction on Faraday Future's Nevada EV manufacturing plant has stopped, putting projected electric car delivery dates at risk, according to the Financial Times. The Chinese company, backed by electronic giant LeEco, is overdue on millions of dollars of bills to its general contractor Aecom, Nevada state treasurer Dan Schwartz told the FT. Construction is set to resume early next year, but it's unlikely the factory -- still in the early phases of construction -- will be ready to produce vehicles by 2017.
Faraday Future teaser drops a new look at its production EV
The slow drip-feed of information Faraday Future is running until its CES 2017 reveal continues, with this teaser video giving a better look at its still-camouflaged prototype vehicle. Containing a "Who said don't reinvent the wheel?" tagline, it focuses on that area, while also showing off a side view of something Model X-looking. It's hardly the shape of the wild FFZero1 concept we saw last year, but it looks like we'll have to wait a few more weeks to know what the company is truly capable of building.
LeEco has grown so fast it's running out of cash
Chinese technology company LeEco is still a relatively new name in the west, but in China, the company is one of the most dominant players in smartphones, TVs, movies and e-commerce. With help from Faraday Future, the electronics giant has moved into the automotive industry, but its fast expansion has come at a cost. In a company-wide letter, LeEco co-founder Jia Yueting admitted that the company is running out of cash.
Catch the first glimpse of Faraday Future's production EV
Faraday Future has yet to unveil its competitor to Tesla's line of commercial electric vehicles, but it seems we're getting closer. A video posted today teases the company's production vehicle as it sails down the desert turns at Willow Springs. "Can't hear the engine?" the video asks. "You're not supposed to." And that's about it.
Faraday Future will unveil its production car at CES 2017
You shouldn't have to wait too much longer to see what Faraday Future's production electric car looks like. The company tells us (and has confirmed on Twitter) that it will unveil its production vehicle at CES 2017, which kicks off in early January. It's not divulging any new details beyond that, and says only that the car is a "premium" EV with "holistic design," loads of technology and "industry leading range" thanks to LG's super-dense batteries. One thing's for sure: we're only weeks away from finding out whether or not Faraday can translate the hype from its supercar concept to a street-ready car you can actually buy.
Tesla rival's EV outed by public records request
Atieva is a Chinese company building an EV for the US market, and we're now getting a first look at its "Atvus" sedan, thanks to a public records search by Recode. The vehicle bears a passing resemblance to the Tesla Model S, with a Citroën-esque rear-wheel cover thrown in. The company has also developed an impressive drive train in a Mercedes test mule van, with a 0 to 60 acceleration time of under three seconds (see the video below). What's perhaps most interesting about Atieva, though, is its tangled ownership web, as the Guardian reported earlier this year.
Faraday Future unveils 'world's highest energy density' EV battery
Faraday Future has partnered with LG Chem to build battery packs for Faraday's upcoming FFZero1 supercar and other vehicles that use its new electric car platform. In a joint press release, the companies said they have produced "the world's highest energy density for a production automotive battery." Faraday Future and its products are still a mystery, but LG Chem is a well-known firm that's supplying batteries for two important EVs set to arrive this year: the Chevy Bolt and Renault Zoe.
Tesla rival LeEco building $1.8 billion EV factory in China
China's EV industry hasn't produced many vehicles yet, but thanks to strong government incentives, it's on an explosive growth curve. One of the main players is electronics giant LeEco, which backs EV builder Faraday Future and recently showed off its own electric car, the LeSee. It unveiled plans for a $1.8 billion EV factory near the Chinese city of Huzhou that will pump out 400,000 EVs per year. The new plant "will be open to all LeEco's strategic partners including Faraday Future," says CEO Jia Yueting.
Faraday Future partners with a Formula E team
Despite only being on many people's radar for just over six months, electric car company Faraday Future has managed to keep itself firmly in the spotlight. It's already unveiled a prototype of its FFZero 1 supercar, struck up a deal with Aston Martin and announced plans for two EV factories. Oh, and it's working on self-driving technology as well. Some of those projects are still a way off, but today the company confirmed it'll soon jump into the world of Formula E, by way of a sponsorship and technical partnership with the Dragon Racing team.
Faraday Future cleared to test self-driving cars in California
Faraday Future isn't waiting for Michigan to get its act together before it starts testing self-driving cars in the US. Reuters has confirmed that the fledgling company has received approval to try autonomous vehicles on California roads later this year. It's still not saying just when there will be a self-driving machine you can buy (the 'regular' electric car is still coming first), but the testing brings the startup a step closer to making that happen. One thing's for sure: between Faraday, GM, Honda and other car makers, there will be a lot of hands-off transportation cruising Golden State streets before long.
