Faraday reveals sleek, sporty concept car in Vegas

 

JANUARY 5, 2016 BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL AND TOM KRISHER

The automotive future according to a new electric car maker looks an awful lot like a Corvette crossed with the Batmobile.

California-based Faraday Future debuted its sleek electric concept racecar Monday night during the annual CES show that focuses on consumer gadgets and has increasingly become a way for carmakers to show off their latest technological feats.

The 18-month-old company that has remained much of a mystery until recently revealing its primary backer, Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, won $335 million worth of incentives from the state of Nevada last month to build a $1 billion manufacturing facility in a hard-hit Las Vegas suburb.

Not even Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who pushed for the incentive package and attended Monday’s debut, had seen the concept car. Neither had North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee although he visited the California headquarters four months ago and saw “the intelligence building around the car.”

“There was no doubt about it that that was the exclamation point,” he said, referring to the negotiations to land the manufacturing plant in his city. He was convinced, he said.

Emphasizing the speed at which it will develop and build cars, the company’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development Nick Sampson said the company would deliver its first production car in a couple of years.

 

Sampson said Faraday had so far hired 750 people globally with most at its California headquarters and planned to break ground on its North Las Vegas plant in a few weeks with plans to hire 4,500 people there.

READ MORE: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-faraday-reveals-sleek-sporty-concept.html