Faraday Future now flush with money pushes for FF91 production, does high-speed tests

We haven’t heard much from Faraday Future in 2018 as the troubled EV startup was trying to secure an important round of funding in order to get out of its seemingly constant financial troubles.

Now the company claims to be flush with cash after a $2 billion investment and they are getting ready to put the focus back on the FF91 all-electric crossover as they now test the vehicle at high-speed.

The California-based and China-backed EV startup said last week that it is now “entering the final test phase for validating battery, thermal, and powertrain” for the FF91, which consists of 3 electric motors powered by a 130 kWh battery pack.

For the final phase, they brought a FF91 prototype to the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in Ohio to conduct two tests they dubbed the “Autobahn drive cycle” and “Operation 120 mph”.

Chou Yeh, Senior Manager of Powertrain and Thermal Controls at FF, commented:

“Both tests are critical to the engineering process of FF 91. FF 91 prototype test development helps to eliminate issues before they arise and continues to add value to the vehicle during the final stages of verification.”

Faraday Future says that the “Autobahn drive cycle” consists of “a 155-mph run for 3 minutes, followed by 75 mph for 2 minutes. These grueling drive cycles were repeated three times in a time span of 15 minutes.”

Chou added:

“Our engineers refused to identify the term Autobahn as max speed or top speed. We conducted the test procedure as a ‘German style’ driving simulation which subjected FF 91 to an aggressive and demanding high-speed driving schedule. The objective was to test and measure the battery, thermal, and powertrain components by pushing them to their limits.”

They pushed the vehicle even harder during the “Operation 120 mph” test during which the FF 91 sped down the tarmac as it took the turns at 120 mph on TRC’s 7.5-mile high-speed test track for 55 minutes for a total of 14 laps- a distance equivalent to 105 driving miles.

They released a quick video of the prototype doing the tests:

Chou said that the team was satisfied with the results of the test:

“Overall, we were pleased with both the Autobahn and constant speed testing as our vehicle sustained close to an hour at 120mph without any drivetrain or thermal issues. Our initial data looked really promising. In all honesty, I don’t think we pushed FF 91’s true potential and think we can go even further.”

Faraday Future said it aims to bring the vehicle to market in 2018, but they started saying that before their financial issues, which led them to change their manufacturing plans.

They have now taken over an existing plant in California, but it looks like they still have a lot of work to do before FF91’s can start rolling off the assembly line.