American electric vehicle (EV) start-up Faraday Future Intelligent Electric has launched Faraday X, a second brand that has already teased two more affordable EVs.
Less than a month after Faraday Future regained compliance with the Nasdaq Stock Market – serving to highlight the company’s efforts to rebound from financial woes that caused them to delay deliveries of its flagship EV hypercar in early 2023 – the brash American start-up is now turning its attention to developing lower cost EVs.
Mixed between a parcel of publicity speak – declaring its goal of developing “hit” Artificial Intelligence Electric Vehicles (AIEV) with “Twice the Performance at Half the Price” and becoming the “Toyota of the AIEV era” – the new brand, Faraday X, or FX for short, claims that it will deliver the first of its new affordable EVs by the end of 2025.
Two products are planned under the FX brand, the FX 5 and FX 6, through a “user-defined co-creation process” with expected price ranges of $20,000 to $30,000 ($A29,000 to $A43,500, converted) and $30,000 to $50,000 ($A43,500 to $A72,500, converted), respectively.
Both vehicles will also reportedly offer two types of powertrains – a range-extended AIEV (RE-AIEV) and battery-electric AIEV (B-AIEV), with the first cars expected to roll off the production line at the end of 2025.
The cheaper FX 5 is set to be a large-space sporty EV, while the FX 6 will be an extra-large luxury EV for the family.
The so-called “user-defined co-creation process” is part of the underlying purpose of the company’s launch – matching its brand slogan, “Co-create, an AIEV for Everyone” which is based around five separate initiatives: Open-Source, Open-Platform, User-Definition, Co-Creation, and Sharing.
FX also looks to be aiming to make the most of the Biden administration’s efforts to onshore an electric vehicle supply chain with a promise to integrate global automotive components and supply chains into the US.
However, it is unclear to what degree FX will be successful in this, considering that part of their announcement heralded “established relationships with four Chinese OEMs” with which they have signed agreements.
Given recent announcements and election season promises, the United States looks set on taxing a significant share of imports from China, raising question marks around FX’s promises.
“The core logic of FF’s second brand and bridge strategy is to create an industrial bridge, fostering close collaboration within the global supply chain to develop high-performance, cost-effective B-AIEV and RE-AIEV products for the US market,” said Matthias Aydt, global CEO of FF.
“Looking ahead, I am excited about our future. With our talented team, I am confident in our ability to achieve our upcoming goals.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
