The electric car may not be an underpowered vehicle much longer. If a concept unveiled at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas is to be believed, a new electric car being designed will be able to go from 0 to 95 km per hour in about 3 seconds.
How? On the strength of 1,000 horsepowers, generated by up to four electric motors, one for each wheel. Just to understand how much that is, think of a Formula 1 car.
Faraday Future – the electric car company based in California, known for being secretive, has revealed its first car, currently named FFZERO1. It's an idea rather than a car, but it should make rivals Tesla Motors a little nervous.
A report in Wired describes the car as, "a wild-eyed, single-seat concept that combines elements of the Batmobile, a Le Mans racer, some switchblades, and a fighter jet." That sounds about right. The video above will have you thinking of the Batmobile even if you're not a fan.
Other features include a glass roof which offers a clear view from outside of the white carbon fibre interior – and of the sky from inside – a smartphone mount in the centre of the steering wheel, the Halo Safety System that supports the driver’s head and neck, and a helmet that feeds the driver water and oxygen. The instrument panel is also designed to gather biometric data about the driver, The Verge reported.
FF is using this concept to show off its Variable Platform Architecture, which allows a number of differently-sized and powered cars to be built on the same frame, with minimal modifications. While the chassis of most cars differ according to their make and size, FF's VPA can be stretched and shrunk as required.
The VPA is also flexible enough to accommodate varying numbers of electric motors and of battery cells. The video below explains this VPA.
Faraday Future is backed by Chinese Internet billionaire Jia Yueting – the founder of "China’s Netflix", LeTV. The company has already signed a $1-billion deal to build a factory in North Las Vegas, and plans to break ground in a few weeks.
Though it's not certain when the real first car will come out of here, the FFZERO1 has certainly got everyone's attention.
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