Faraday Future claimed 64,000 reservations after its FF91 debut

author: Claire   

Just two days after Faraday Future debuted its long-awaited electric vehicle FF91 at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, the company posted on Twitter that it has secured 64,124 reservations in less than 36 hours.

Compared with 232,000 pre-orders for the Tesla Model S in just one day, Faraday Future clearly couldn't compete with Elon Musk's EV vessels. However, over 64,000 reservations is definitely not bad, at least for market disrupters. It could mean $320 million if every customer paid the $5,000 deposit for priority access.

But the media and the public question if that number is really "valid" as people could register for a free reservation multiple times. And within 180 days, if the customer doesn't pay the purchasing deposit, the reservation will expire. Currently, there are inquiries on Faraday Future's Twitter account, asking if the number is related to paid reservations. Interestingly, the operator of the account is replying to other questions under the post, but ignoring that one.

Among many electric vehicle newcomers, Faraday Future is clearly under the spot light. Its financial backing by Chinese billionaire Yueting Jia complicates its relationship with LeEco; while its controversies of owing debts to different vendors and companies kept making news headlines, and the continuous departures of top management all make people wonder where the company is heading to next. Some even say it could all close down this February, if there's insufficient funds to support daily operations.

YT Jia once told the public that his investment in the automobile business is reaching 10 billion Chinese yuan ($1.44 billion), in which a significant amount was given to Faraday Future. He himself even showed up at FF91's world premiere in CES 2017, driving the vehicle to the center stage and remarked on the vehicle with great optimism.

The FF91 highlights its speedy acceleration from 0-60 mph in 2.39 seconds, 378 mile-range, self-driving technology and all-electric power. No matter how controversial Faraday Future is, the swarming crowd of people at the CES event and all the cheering showed that the new product was well received.

Dag Reckhorn, Faraday Future's vice president for global manufacturing told The Paper that they will surely hand in the first batch of FF91 to customers in 2018. Currently, the brand will have to decide on the production site depending on FF91's sales performance.

"There's still a long way to go in finishing Faraday Future's current manufacturing factory. We therefore have to resort to other alternatives to produce the first round of FF91," he said.

The vehicles will likely be built in small-scale factories in Las Vegas. While the model car which debuts at CES 2017 will probably be made in a small plant near Faraday Future's Los Angeles headquarters, by FF's team - not other vendors.

Claire

Claire Peng has over 6 years of professional experience in the media industry, covering TV, newspaper and online media. She was once a reporter and producer for Fairchild Television based in Toronto Canada, and worked as an English news reporter for the Global Times in Beijing. She writes mainly about self-driving, companies investment, and the enterprise lab.