The model for the electric vehicle (EV) to be mass-produced by U.S. startup Faraday Future (FF) and financed by Chinese tycoon Jia Yueting was launched on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Global Times reported.
Nick Sampson, FF's senior vice president of product research and development, said that the FF 91 is now available for pre-orders online and the first batch is expected to be delivered in 2018.
According to a press statement released by LeEco on Wednesday, Jan. 4, the FF 91 has a flexible powertrain system VPA (variable platform architecture) and is a combination of precision and intelligent Internet features with the comfort of a luxury passenger car.
The FF 91 can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 2.39 seconds, faster than the BMW's M760xDrive which takes 3.7 seconds gain speed from 0 to 62 miles per hour, according to Liu Dingding, an analyst based in Beijing.
Jia, LeEco's founder who supported FF as part of his electric car ambition, drove the electric vehicle during the launch event to show the FF 91's functions to the public.
But an embarrassing moment occurred when the car stalled and did not respond to show its self-parking ability, a report published on ifeng.com said.
Jia, however, remained confident about the FF 91, which he called "an all-in-one vehicle ... that will change the public perception of cars."
But before the FF 91 launching, there were concerns and doubts about the electric vehicle's future after reports came that Jia is facing financial trouble which could cause a delay in the project.
But Jia denied the claimed and gave his assurance that the project will continue, the report said.
In November, media reports said that the construction of FF's $1-billion factory may be halted, citing Jia's financial problems as Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz called FF of being a "Ponzi scheme."
Sampson, however, said that the FF's plant in Nevada has not stopped its operation, adding that the EV will be made at the plant.
Meanwhile, in addition to FF 91's launch, Jia is also continuing with other plans in the EV sector. Recently, LeSEE, one of LeEco's EV companies, has announced that an auto factory will be constructed in Huzhou, in Zhejiang Province.
Faraday Future, which is part of the EV empire created by Jia, hopes to challenge Elon Musk's Tesla Motors.