Faraday Future unwraps Tesla rival battery-powered supercar

PanARMENIAN.Net - Faraday Future, a California-based startup that went public just last summer, has unveiled its first concept vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: the high-performance battery-powered FFZERO1, Fox News reports.

The single-seat electric supercar has the looks of a Le Mans racer, and was designed to showcase a scalable platform that Faraday Future says will underpin a range of models when production begins at the $1 billion facility it is building in Nevada, possibly as early as 2017.

The carbon fiber and composite FFZERO1 features an electric motor at each wheel with a combined output of 1,000 horsepower. It can, theoretically, accelerate to 60 mph in under three seconds and hit a top speed of over 200 mph. Its modular battery pack is comprised of “battery strings” that can accommodate a variety of charge capacities and vehicle sizes. Autonomous driving capability is also under development.

Primarily meant to act as a showpiece for the company’s debut, the company says that the FFZERO1 could see very low volume production, but a more conventional model is expected to be its first mass market offering. Previously released images suggest it is working on a crossover-type vehicle.

Emphasizing the speed at which it will develop and build cars, the company's Senior Vice President of Research and Development Nick Sampson said the company would deliver its first production car in a couple of years.

"You don't need to have a hundred year legacy in the automotive industry to define what the next generation of transportation needs to look and feel like," Sampson said, taking a stab at traditional car makers and likening the future of cars to the debut of the Apple iPhone nine years ago making several models of cell phones obsolete.