The Los Angeles-based startup company plans to start building and selling electric vehicles in 2017 in the US, and will begin testing self-driving prototypes in California later this year after winning approval from the state.
Faraday is just one of several Chinese-backed companies looking to challenge Tesla in the premium EV segment, and like Tesla, the new startup also hopes to add self-driving characteristics to their cars in the near future.
According to an Autonews source, Faraday has already been testing prototype vehicles this past year at private facilities, and as stated by Jan Becker, senior director of automated driving at Faraday’s San Jose tech center, their electric vehicles will come with “state of the art driver assistance systems,” which would in turn lead to fully autonomous driving.
Aside from Faraday Future, the state of California has recently approved two Silicon Valley startups for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads, specifically Zoox and Drive.ai – funded by venture investors. The state’s DMV has also approved testing by Cruise Automation, which was acquired by GM earlier this year.
Other, more notable approved automakers include Google, Tesla (obviously), Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, BMW, Honda, Ford, as well as auto suppliers Robert Bosch and Delphi Automotive.
PHOTO GALLERY
