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Faraday Future Finally Launches the FF 91, Feels like It Should Cost $1 Million

The much awaited Faraday Future launch has happened, and as you would expect, it was a mixed affair with both good things and bad ones. Let's get the latter out of the way first.
Faraday Future FF 91 17 photos
Photo: Faraday Future
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For one thing, we understand you can't just come up on the stage and say you're just making another EV, so you need to boast a little, but FF's presentation went a little too far. It almost made it sound like we were in some kind of immediate danger and Faraday Future was a sort of Superman coming to the rescue. For a company with nothing to show for itself right now, that's a bit bold, to say the least.

Then there was that moment when CEO Jia Yueting was introduced. He arrived on the stage on board the FF 91 and was supposed to showcase the car's automatic valet parking feature. But after ten seconds or so of completely awkward silence, it became apparent the car refused to budge. Then, the Chinese billionaire took the stage for what was the most heartfelt part of the presentation, but also the hardest to understand (1:12:00)

We present you... nothing

Finally, in an attempt to shut the mouths of doubters, the evening included a short video showing the progress made with the construction of the factory. Only, to be fair, there was none. The footage showed heavy equippment combing the Nevada ground, but the construction is nowhere to be seen. The figures on the screen talked about what is to be, but right now, that plant isn't even a big hole in the ground.

Alright, now that we've taken the negativity out of our systems, let's talk about the car. The FF 91 looks good - if anything, it seems to be a little over-designed, if such a thing even exists. We're not so crazy about the rear, but other than that it has a pleasant overall shape and some very neat details.

One such feature are the side mirrors, which can be converted to the more aerodynamic video cameras once the legislation would allow it by simply removing some parts. The FF 91 has no door handles either, relying instead on a touchscreen integrated into the B-pillar.

That works even better considering the concept - we can safely call it that for now - has suicide doors, so it only needs one such sensitive display on each side. Exactly what these controls can do isn't clear, but we did get to see that the automated parking was supposed to be initiated from there.

It's what inside that counts

The inside of the FF 91 is where things get truly interesting. Don't be fooled by the relatively small dimensions of those rear doors - the back seats is where you really want to be. The FF 91 doesn't go down the same family-oriented path as Tesla's Model X, focusing instead on a more business-oriented approach.

The two individual “NASA-inspired zero-gravity seats" claim to offer “industry-leading reclining angles” as well as heating, cooling, and even massaging features. If you've heard about the success long-wheelbase versions of cars have in China, then this focus on the comfort found at the back is a definitive giveaway that Faraday Future targets Jia Yueting's home market primarily.

We haven't touched on the performance specs so far. The FF 91 comes with 1,050 hp and a 130 kWh battery to support them. They say that's enough to grant it 378 miles (608 km) of EPA-rated range, which would surely translate into more than 700 kilometers over in Europe. That's as much - if not more - as a gasoline-powered large vehicle such as an SUV.

All this will come at a cost, but that aspect was mysteriously missing from the presentation. The company wants to start production in 2018, but that seems like a tight schedule even if everything were to go as planned. The FF 91 is just so complex that putting together its assembly line alone seems like a daunting task.

Faraday Future promises a second event held in March where more details on the car will be sorted out - and, hopefully, its features will all work for a change. However, there is plenty to sink in as it is - so much so, in fact, that it's impossible for us to cover here. You can watch the one-hour-plus presentation below, and make sure you skip the first 15 minutes as the action starts after a quarter of an hour.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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