At the CES show in North America, Faraday Future officially launched its first mass-produced pure electric SUV, which was the FF 91 that was popular at the time. Moving back to 2022, Faraday Future has reached a new milestone amid skepticism. At 7:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 24, Faraday Future held the first FF 91 "quasi-production car" off the production line, and FF 91 seems to be closer to us.
Regarding Faraday Future, the author has sorted out various important information nodes released by its official in recent years, and found that FF 91 has been released at least three times.
The FF 91 was first released at the 2017 CES show in North America, and even though it was released as the first production car for The Future, it was closer to a concept car at the time. In August 2018, the first pre-production car of the FF 91 officially rolled off the production line. In the years since, Faraday Future has published a number of tests about the FF 91.
FF 91, which debuted in 2017
Until December 2021, Faraday Future was updated on its official WeChat public account. It said it has now completed its third milestone, which is to start the infrastructure construction of the remaining production areas, including the body shop, powertrain shop, warehouse and final assembly shop. The fourth milestone to be reached is the mass production of pre-production vehicles for final engineering verification and certification. And in the video, Faraday Future employees say that the current "pre-production car" is 30% complete.
The live broadcast on February 24 started a little too early, but the author also arrived at the company at 6 o'clock to start watching the live broadcast. Although the live video signal is very poor and the live video definition is very average, Faraday Future first showed part of the production area of the factory before the launch ceremony began. Judging from the video, although many equipment has been put in place, the factory is still in the construction stage and does not see the production line that has been formed.
According to the latest news released by Faraday Future, the FF 91 mass production project is progressing quite smoothly, and it will enter a new round of testing and verification work. At the same time, Faraday Future also said that it will sign an agreement with a Korean foundry to guarantee mass production of the FF 81 in 2024. What is the FF 81? On February 10, 2022, Faraday Future announced a partnership with South Korea's Myoung Shin to produce the FF81, which is expected to be in mass production in 2024, with the plant expected to have a maximum capacity of 270,000 units per year. The FF81 will be a high-end mass-market electric vehicle with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm and a starting price of $59,000, compared to the WEIO ES8 (parameter | offer), BMW 5 Series, etc., and the FF81 Futurist edition is $95,000.
FF 91/FF 81/FF 71 Approximate data reference
Don't worry, there's FF 71! The FF 71 is a mass-market model with a wheelbase of 2,850mm and a starting price of $45,000, compared to Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y, and the Futurist version, which starts at $65,000. Logistics distribution vehicles are scheduled to be launched in 2023 for the B-side last-mile solution. The author believes that when the FF 91 is still in the uncertain future, the arrival of FF 81, FF 71 and logistics distribution vehicles has not seen the dawn of success.
Based on the current situation, if Faraday Future successfully mass-produces the FF 91, how many consumers are willing to pay for it?
After all, in most voices in China, Boss Jia has been "credit bankrupt" N times, even in the United States where he currently lives is not ideal. In October 2021, a U.S. agency released a 28-page report questioning Faraday Future's ability to build cars, arguing that "not a single car can be sold." In addition, FF 91, which opened reservations in 2021, was exposed at the beginning of this year, with only 300 paid orders out of 14,000 units, which is even worse for Faraday Future, which is ready to sell cars this summer.
During the live streaming of the conference, Faraday Future has been working hard to broadcast "Born in California.Global DNA" by mouth. Translated as, the slogan of being born in California and global DNA is also an opportunity to show that it is a design identity from California, and to create a product positioning with the concept of globalization. It may also be to use a new slogan to get rid of the many bad reputations that have been plaguing the brand.
“Born in California.Global DNA”
Finally, let's take a look at the FF 91 released this time. First of all, in terms of appearance, the front of the new car adopts a penetrating LED light group design, but there are some subtle differences with the prototype car. In addition, the LOGO formed by flipping the letter FF 45° counterclockwise will also emit light, and the front surround sides are integrated with ventilation holes, supplemented by LED fog light clusters.
The FF 91 features a door-opening design and a welcome light strip on the side skirt. The tail is a slightly slippery design, creating a very dynamic visual effect, and the large area of the tail light group is highly recognizable. In terms of body size, according to the information released, the new car has a length of 5250mm, a height of 1602mm, and a wheelbase of 3200mm.
In terms of interior, while adopting the asymmetrical center console shape, the car is equipped with a long strip LCD instrument, a vertical central control screen, a co-pilot screen, a door panel LCD control screen and a large-size entertainment multimedia LCD screen located in the second row.
It is worth mentioning that in order to emphasize the simplicity of the center console, the FF 91 designed the air conditioner outlet on both sides of the door. The black and white color scheme of the entire center console, coupled with three high-definition displays, greatly enhances the sense of technology inside the entire cockpit.
In terms of power, the new car is based on Faraday Future's self-developed variable electric drive chassis architecture, the new car can output 1050Ps, peak torque of 1800 N·m, the new car is equipped with a 130kWh battery pack, 100 km/h acceleration of less than 2.4s, NEDC endurance of more than 700km.
Approximate data parameters for FF 91
In addition, Faraday Future does not disclose the specific parameters of the new car or the upgraded configuration, but it can be seen from the appearance that the layout of the sensors has changed. In previous releases, the FF 91 placed lidar in the position of the front cover and was a design that could be lifted and lowered. However, this design was eliminated from the quasi-production version released today, and instead the lidar was placed above the front windshield.
The initial version of the FF 91 raises and lowers lidar
In fact, Faraday Future's layout in China has not been left behind, and there are companies wholly owned by FF in Beijing and Zhuhai. In January 2021, Faraday Future and Geely jointly announced that the two sides plan to cooperate in technology and factories, and explore the possibility of Geely's joint venture with Foxconn to provide foundry services for Faraday Future, which is also the fastest way for Faraday Future to obtain production qualifications in China.
Summary: According to the latest news currently available, just after yesterday's press conference, Faraday Future will strive to achieve the landing of domestic projects and achieve real domestic production. In addition, the FF 91's mass production test drive will also land in the Chinese showroom in the fourth quarter of this year. Guess what, if the real FF 91 is officially laid out in China, who will pay for its high price? At least in the current domestic market, there are more than one or two models with the same strength as the FF 91. Take the high-matching analogy that is almost equal to its product strength, and it is at least half the current pricing of the FF 91. Looking at The Dismal Sales of Gaohe, and thinking about the future Ofaday Future, there may not be many people who have illusions about them.