The year 2017 certainly seems to be the year of the EV or the electric car if you prefer. Electric mobility is all the rage and up until now has been pretty much completely dominated by Tesla, with other manufacturers offering a small range of their existing vehicles as electric - including Vauxhall, VW, Renault etc.
Even the likes of Mclaren and Rolls Royce have seen opportunities, and have integrated electric mobility into the existing and future platforms.
Faraday future is a relatively new contender to the EV market and aims to make their mark with a range of vehicles, the first consumer car being the FF91.
Faraday future gets its name from one of the founding principle engineers in the field of electric and electromagnetic science, Michael Faraday.
Faraday Futures primary goal is to be as influential as Tesla, models so far include the FS01 this car made its debut in January 2016 at the consumer Electronics show, the FF91, Faraday Futures answer to a 4 door SUV, and they're also active in the field of motorsport, well the next gen version - racing their own Formula e car in collaboration with Dragon racing.
Faraday have primarily designed their cars for people without a licence however that being said, they haven't discounted licensed, well we certainly hope not. Faraday know their car has to appeal to everyone, drivers, non-drivers, enthusiasts and the motor industry. The company said recently "We have to be the best in every way" and so far they're certainly on the right track.
Lets delve into the car that could change it all for Faraday Future - The FF91, the first 2 letters are merely the automotive manufacturers name, and the 2 digits denote the model, pronounced nine one, not ninety one.
Lets start with some specs the EV is rumoured to have a range of 378 miles, if you can drive at 55mph then you should be able to increase range to 482 miles. The performance is 0-60 in 2.39 seconds which is a touch behind the Tesla model S P90D in insanity mode, top speed has't been unveiled as yet. The FF91 powered by a 130kHw battery which powers 3 electric motors, also in the mix is an Echelon inverter patented by Faraday Future this allows the vehicle to benefit from fast charging - Each motor is a phase 3 permanent magnet motor and with all 3 combined output and is an impressive 1050bhp with AWD and rear wheel steering, similar to HICAS on various Nissan models.
This tech allows the home charger to charge the battery to 50% in 4 1/2 hours with a 15 Kw charge, and a 200kWh charger to increase that to a staggering 500 miles in one hour - The Echeleon inverter transform more energy using less space, always an ideal for an electric vehicle when considering the amount of weight and tech an electric car needs.
The body of the car is built on what it calls a variable platform architecture, meaning its built on a chassis that is designed to fulfil several modes well that's the theory. Faraday Future utilises this with flexible chassis architecture which can then be tweaked to do the application widened and shortened. This platform means the chassis and framework is no way limited to any particular market and can be modified as and when.
As we mentioned the before my the FF91 is targeted at the driverless car market, meaning this car is completely autonomous. This is achieved with the use 10 HD cameras, 13 long and short range radars and a retractable 3D lidar to aid in keeping the cars sleek looks when not in use. This is only part of the complex self driving system, however when you put these elements together, it enables the FF91 to autonomously drive wherever you tell it to go the, it can even drop you off park, and then return to collect you, in addition the electric car utilises dynamic stabilising features to improve the ride, all built into the body and the final cherry on the cake is AI, this is integrated to enhance the experience and where applicable learn what to improve.
Lidar tech is a radar system used for autonomous driving, Tesla chose not to use it as it didn't perform too well for them in rain or snow - However Cadillac is using it as part of a supercruise option, a test case if you will - Cadillac equip a fleet of cars with Lidar and use them to map US highways they will then download the data and use this in future development.
The vehicle is perfectly positioned to appeal to the SUV and Electric mobility market - and why not this car has some tricks up its sleeve - it uses a multimode set up enabling real-time vectoring to the rear wheels allowing output to adjust accordingly, enhancing traction.
Size wise, the FF91 is a touch wider and longer than the Mercedes S class and slightly shorter than the BMW X1 making it evenly matched size wise to its competition. It has four doors which are controlled by sensors which prevents the doors from opening if something is in close proximity.
Inside, the cockpit equips you with a digital display rearview mirror, roof windows made from polymer disperse liquid crystal technology which can dim when the sunlight gets too bright, side rear seats, impressive infotainment system and of course massaging, heated seats and more to be unveiled soon.
For an automotive company in its infancy things are going relatively well, a few hicups with production plants, and demos not going to plan for the FF91 - that being said we expect to see production starting very soon as its 64,000 preorders hold testament, and of course the issuing of a license allowing the company to test their self driving cars on public roads within the state of California, really shows the development and testing of this electric SUV is running at full steam.
We love the car itself it looks superb, its a great looking electric SUV, futuristic in its styling, full of tech, autonomous and the choice of colour set the car off well, we are yet to get behind the wheel of this cutting edge electric car, however we expect to be experiencing one very soon.
If your looking to purchase one your looking at around the £147,000 mark, you can reserve one for a touch over £4000 and if you can get yourself an upgrade to the Alliance edition model as an invitation from Faraday - this is open to the first 300 customers.