Jia Yueting-funded U.S. start-up Faraday Future (FF) unveiled its long-awaited mass-produced electric vehicle (EV) model in the U.S. on Tuesday.
During a launch event in Las Vegas, Nevada, prior to this week's Consumers Electronic Show, Jia, the founder of the Chinese Internet conglomerate LeEco, expressed his confidence in the new model, dubbed the FF 91.
"It is an all-in-one vehicle … that reformats people's perception of cars," Jia said.
FF is just a part of the EV empire built by Jia, who aims to be a rival to Elon Musk, founder of EV maker Tesla Motors.
LeSEE, another of LeEco's EV companies, recently announced the construction of an auto factory in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.
Sporting proprietary flexible powertrain system VPA (variable platform architecture), FF 91 is said to be a combination of precise handling, the comfort of a luxury passenger car, and intelligent Internet features, according to a press release LeEco sent to the Global Times Wednesday.
It can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (mph) in a record 2.39 seconds, which excites Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based independent analyst.
Liu said that BMW's M760xDrive needs 3.7 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph.
The FF 91 is now available to be pre-ordered online and the first batch will be delivered in 2018, Nick Sampson, FF's senior vice president of product research & development, said at the event. The vehicle will be made at FF's Nevada plant, which never stopped operation, Sampson said.
In November, Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz called FF a "Ponzi scheme," following media reports that Jia's mounting financial problems likely caused halts to the construction of FF's $1 billion factory in the state.
