We published our first post on Faraday Future on July 16, 2015, under the headline, “Faraday Future breaks stealth, promises 2017 EV launch.” We now know that promise, like Luca Brasi, swims with the fishes; turns out a longer stealth phase would have done everyone a lot of good. But Faraday Future, like Aptera Motors and Elio Motors, has perfected the art of longevity if not the art of automobile production; last year, FF secured new funding from Volvo owner Geely and a reverse merger with a SPAC. With those funds and continued purpose, the company stopped by Twitter last week to announce we’d see the new, production-intent FF91 battery-electric crossover debut tomorrow, February 23. The event will be livestreamed from California at 4 p.m. PST, 7 p.m. EST.
We are 7 days away from the unveiling of the 1st Production Intent #FF91! This achievement marks Production Milestone #4 – production intent builds for final engineering validation & certification. Join the livestream 02/23/2022 4:00 PM PST at https://t.co/BqJfb7rnqZ $FFIE pic.twitter.com/iS47fEqp0w
— Faraday Future (@FaradayFuture) February 16, 2022
Faraday previously showed a prototype tester in 2017, followed by a pre-production example in 2018. Two years after that, we took a brief spin in a “close-to-production” unit at CES 2020. The one we drove wasn’t far off the basic specifications we’ve been promised for years, a 130-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack pushing electrons to three electric motors, each rated at 350 horsepower. Two motors turned the rear axle, one spun the front wheels, total output checked in at 1,050 horsepower and 1,328 pound-feet of torque. Company CEO Carsten Breitfeld said at the time said he had 110 miles of range left after the 250-mile highway drive from L.A. to Las Vegas. He must have been coming from somewhere slightly west of L.A., like West Covina; nevertheless, a 360-mile range would, even years later, keep FF91 at the pointy end of the EV crossover pack.
The targeted EPA rating is 378 miles. As for restoring range, DC fast-charging at up to 200 kW is said to restore as many as 200 miles in an hour.
Faraday says there’s nothing left to do but “final engineering validation & certification.” The aim will be to get the FF91 into production by the end of this year at the factory in Hanford, California. Tomorrow, we’ll be watching the livestream to see what’s changed in the intervening years, and hoping to hear a lot of good reasons we should believe all of Faraday Future’s dreams will come true this time, and an update on a recent investor kerfuffle over inaccurate statements.
Source: www.autoblog.com