At CES 2017, Faraday Future presented its futuristic luxury electric car FF 91. Seven years later, after repeated delays, bankruptcies, lawsuits, and other disputes, the company sold “15 or 16” FF 91. Now, the company is detailing its latest change in strategy and plans to sell low-cost electric vehicles under its new low-cost brand, FX. FX CEO Max Ma came to CES with two prototype cars to present the plan, which he described as a “fresh start” for the struggling company.
As you might expect with Faraday, the exact details are somewhat vague, but they involve purchasing parts from Chinese automakers and transporting them to the U.S. to produce “mass-produced cars” with some of the premium elements for which Faraday is known. “We want to bring the experience of a $300,000 car in terms of technology, features and performance to a $30,000-40,000 car to try to improve the overall user experience,” Ma said during a briefing with Engadget. The first FX vehicle, the flagship of the brand’s lineup, will be a minivan (or, as Ma called it, “AI MPV”) called the Super One.
Faraday presented two minivan prototypes to demonstrate the concept. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but the photos at the top of this post are the cars I saw.
One of them was supposed to show the premium interior Faraday envisions for a budget car. It had two rows of white leather captain’s seats. The second-row seats had folding footrests, heated seats and built-in massagers. There was also a small refrigerator for storing drinks under the center console. The car was missing door handles and a few other details. “Obviously, we will have door handles,” the Faraday representative assured us.
The second minivan was even less decorated. The entire interior, including the dashboard and instrument panel, was covered in black fabric held together with staples. But a Faraday representative took me and other reporters for a ride in it, driving it in small, slow circles around a Las Vegas parking lot. Later, Faraday offered me to take the minivan for a test drive, and I-apparently the “first lady” who piloted the vehicle-also drove it in slow circles around the parking lot. I’m not sure what I was supposed to get out of it, but it felt like driving a minivan.
Two more cars are planned for the initial FX lineup, the FX 5 and FX 6, which the company announced earlier. Faraday expects the price to be between $20,000 and $30,000 for the FX 5 and between $30,000 and $50,000 for the FX 6. Other details are still scarce, although the company did share a teaser image of the FX 6 prototype, which it described as an “ultra-large luxury AIEV.”
Faraday says it will begin production of one of the planned vehicles later this year, with the first “pre-production” model rolling off the line by the end of 2025, according to the timeline shared by Ma. This is a bold promise given the company’s past history of mismanagement and delays. Faraday Future CEO Matthias Eidt also admitted that the company has not yet finalized its partnerships with companies that will supply it with parts. He also did not say how tariffs might affect those plans.
Ma said he understands the skepticism. “In fact, this is a kind of a new start. We really want to demonstrate that with our commitment and hard work we can achieve what we promised.”
