Mystery EV start-up breaks cover in US

Tesla is almost at the point of being the generic brand name for electric vehicles. But it can expect to have some serious competition shortly – particularly in America, as the market there for EVs rapidly grows.

A new rival on the scene is named Faraday Future, a Californian company based in Silicon Valley – much like Tesla. The difference between the two companies, according to US mag Motor Trend, is that Tesla has a high-profile CEO – Elon Musk – and is climbing its way to the top with two critically praised production cars already having reached the market, with two more to follow.

In contrast, Faraday Future – or FF for short – is guided by a CEO who prefers to remain anonymous. Furthermore, while the company has committed to the introduction of a series-production EV two years from now, it has no manufacturing facility and it has supplied no information concerning the vehicle itself other than a vague teaser image.

The company has declared its intention to bring its own vehicle to market with a battery pack expected to outgun Tesla's – at around 98kWh, Motor Trend estimates. Its higher energy density will result in larger crumple zones than those in the Tesla Model S, and its multi-cell pack will allow individual cells to be replaced if or when they become faulty. Each cell is 'fault-tolerant', the company says, meaning a problem with one cell won't spread to the rest.

It sounds like one of those 'buy Queensland property while the tide is out' type of scams, but the company has apparently head-hunted some legitimate talent from the automotive industry – including Tesla. According to the Motor Trend article, FF has already recruited Nick Sampson (Tesla chassis engineer), Richard Kim (design chief for BMW i3 and i8), Silva Hiti (Chevrolet Volt powertrain engineer), Pontus Fontaeus (interior designer for Ferrari and Land Rover) and Page Beermann (BMW stylist).

Nick Sampson told the magazine that FF is staffed by a "boatload of former Tesla employees" – primarily in HR, manufacturing and purchasing roles. New staff are joining the – currently 200-strong – FF workforce at the rate of 10 a week. Motor Trend questions FF's ability to put a production EV in the garages of US consumers by 2017, unless the FF car is built by a mainstream manufacturer with an idling factory.

But Sampson's willingness to lend his good name to the project suggests the backers are serious people – and not only serious about parting consumers from their money. An insider was reportedly quoted as saying: "We're not Tesla. But we're not Fisker either..."

By that, the anonymous staffer was clearly admitting on the one hand that FF faces a major challenge getting up to speed, but it's not doomed to failure.