6 Things You Need To Know About The 1000bhp+ Faraday Future FF 91

Faraday Future is a company that’s been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks. There have been various news reports speaking of resignations, suppliers not getting paid and a generally chaotic atmosphere behind the scenes, which have led to worries over the future of the company.

Things generally haven’t been looking all that rosy for the would-be Tesla competitor, but the company has now revealed its first production car - the FF 91 - at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and judging by the initial details it sounds pretty damn promising.

We’ll have to wait and see if this young company can pull it off, but for now, here are the main things you need to know:

It's stupidly quick

You probably gathered this from the headline, but here are some stats for you: the FF 91 puts out the equivalent of 1036bhp via a 130kWh battery and an all-wheel drive “multi-motor set-up”, making 0-60mph possible in 2.39 seconds. Faraday calls this “record-breaking”, by which we assume they mean the FF 91 is faster to 60mph than any other EV.

It looks like a space age minivan

Somehow, Faraday Future has managed to build something that makes the Tesla Model X look a little old fashioned. Is it a good looking thing? We’ll let you decide that in the comments, although to our eyes it does look a tad fussy. Its minivan-esque shape isn’t exactly appealing, either.

It’s awash with cool little details however, like the boomerang-shaped front light strip that integrates into the headlamps, the intricately designed rear brake light and the screen infused B-pillars.

It'll know your face

Faraday Future calls the FF 91 “the first car where you don’t need a key”. The reason? You can unlock it with your face.

It’s called “Arrival Interface”, and it lets users unlock the car via facial recognition thanks to a camera in that fancy B-pillar we mentioned earlier.

There are further cameras on the inside, which recognise users and can adjust various things to suit each person. It’ll even be able to tell what sort of mood you’re in via your facial expressions, and will then “auto-prompt an experience to match, using music, temperature, scent, content, massage and more”. Sounds fascinating, but it could be awkward if you’re hiding a bad mood from your passengers and the car suddenly suggests you put on some death metal.

Range and charge time

Range-wise, the FF 91 promises up to 378 miles (EPA estimate), although it’s a fair bet you’ll be getting less than that if you’re frequently playing around with the 2.39sec 0-60mph capability.

The car has the ‘capacity’ to be fully charged in well under an hour, although Faraday doesn’t state where you’ll be able to do this. Using a home charger, you’re looking at four and a half hours for a 50 per cent charge.

It has many autonomous things

Faraday Future hasn’t revealed exactly how much the FF 91 will have in the way of autonomous capabilities, but the company has detailed the car’s complex sensor system. You’re looking at 3D lidar 10 high definition cameras, 13 radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

It has a self parking feature, although at the demonstration in Las Vegas last night, it didn’t seem too willing to work…

It won't be on the road for a little while yet

Although you can put down a $5000 refundable deposit right now, production isn’t due to start until 2018, and that’s if there aren’t any delays. So, it’ll be a while before we’ll see these things rolling around.

In the meantime if you fancy a mere gawp in the metal, it’s on display at CES in Las Vegas now.