Remember the name: Faraday. This brand new electric car maker wants to rival the big boys like Tesla Motors and plans to invest one billion dollars in a production facility on U.S. soil, either in California, Georgia, Louisiana or Nevada, the Los Angeles Times reports. The company, which is owned by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, would like to release its first electric vehicle in 2017.
Faraday currently employs 400 people and operates in Nissan’s former U.S. sales office. The staff includes some high-ranking executives who used to work for Tesla, Audi, BMW, Ford, and GM. Its game plan is similar to Tesla’s: offering a single high-end model first, followed by more affordable products.
“It will be a halo vehicle that will establish our brand and identity as we move forward into a larger range of vehicles that fill the need of a larger population,” said Nick Sampson, a senior vice president at Faraday.
He added: “We are starting from a clean sheet of paper and, being 100% electric, we won't fit into any of the current categories of vehicles. We can look at what peoples’ needs are for the future and develop a vehicle around that.”
Look for some form of autonomous driving, as well.