Faraday Future launches the $309,000 "FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance"

In the world of EV startups, it seems few companies have had a bumpier ride to market than Faraday Future. Founded back in 2014, the company has experienced a number of financial setbacks that have delayed their FF 91, originally slated for a 2018 release, until now. With this announcement, Faraday Future is unveiling a revamped "FF 91 2.0", and this "Futurist Alliance" model limited to just 300 examples will be offered at an eye-watering $309,000. Faraday Future appear to be swinging for the fences, offering a car that caters to a high-tech, ultra-lux segment of the uber-rich.

Along with the vehicle, that company announced a "mobile ecosystem product" called "FF aiHypercar+", which costs an additional $14,900 per year as an annual subscription (better act fast though, turns out that's an introductory price for the first 2,000 buyers!) Faraday Future was a little vague on what this software offers. They say, "FF's mobility ecosystem products encompass software, internet, vehicle service, personalized AI algorithms, and even special hardware versions tailored to specific user needs. These products are relevant to vehicle usage and user special rights." We're not entirely sure what that means, but you can bet that AI is part of it, as Faraday Future's press release mentioned AI no less than 75 times.

A few other interesting notes from the announcement:

• The first 91 buyers will receive a satellite communications suite. The technology isn't ready yet, but will be installed in the future.
• Faraday Future is guaranteeing these vehicles will retain atleast 60% of their resale value in the first 3 years (but will revisit this policy at the end of 2023).
• The "Futurist Alliance" model (which is a higher model than simply "futurist") will come with "1-on-1 bespoke private AI and special tuning"
• The “Magic All-in-One” track edition emphasizes track performance tuning with all-terrain capability and will include a one-on-one professional track driving training session with a professional racing car driver.
• The car "aims to provide users with 1 to 2 hours of increased time in their day for added value and efficiency. Our Ultimate AI TechLuxury is designed to offer spire users "26-hour days."

Our take

We're glad that Faraday Future is finally able to bring their FF 91 to market, even if the vast majority will never be able to afford this Futurist Alliance model. Mostly, we love choice and we love when vehicles push the industry forward. We also understand that young automakers need to do what they need to do to survive, and creating luxury products is one of the best paths into the industry. There are a lot of buzzwords in this release, so much so that at times it reads a bit like satire. AI is a central theme here, but the announcement was not clear how AI will provide value to the user, so we'll withhold any reaction. AI is certainly buzzy right now, and like web 3.0 before it (which the FF 91 also supports) we see many companies trying to ride the wave with mixed results. We're not sure what "Personalized Bespoke AI" looks like, but color us curious.