What may either be a UFO or the latest take on high-performance electric automotive technology has landed at CES in Las Vegas, with Faraday Future unveiling its single-seater FFZERO1 Concept vehicle. Billed as a test-bed for the company's future range of electric vehicles, the track car incorporates a new chassis design and claims to have a "sixth sense" that adapts to the driver's intentions and needs while providing real-time data and images.
From the outside, the FFZERO1 definitely has the air of a speed demon with its highly aerodynamic bodywork and forward-set cockpit. Underneath the carbon composite bodywork is a racing suspension with advanced vehicle dynamic control and torque vectoring, along with an aero-tunnel design for reduced drag and battery cooling.
This cooling is important because the FFZERO1 is no golf cart. At its heart is Faraday Future's Variable Platform Architecture (VPA) – a new, centrally-located battery structure that's arranged into modular strings for greater design flexibility, aimed at reducing costs while increasing both speed and safety.
The VPA feeds power to four Quad Core motors punching out over 1,000 bhp. On the track, this translates into 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in under three seconds and a top speed of over 200 mph (322 km/h).
The interior of the FFZERO1 carries over the white and carbon mesh motif of the bodywork into the snug cockpit, boasting a NASA-inspired "zero gravity" seat set at 45º to promote circulation and offset g-forces. There's also a Halo safety system to provide neck support, and even a bespoke helmet and racing suit to go with the car.
In front of the propeller-shaped, asymmetric instrument panel, the steering column integrates a smartphone to provide the driver with control of the vehicle both inside and outside. The company says that the FFZERO1 may even be driver-optional, so it can meet the owner at the track and even run a few warm-up laps by itself.
"The FFZERO1 Concept is an amplified version of the design and engineering philosophies informing FF's forthcoming production vehicles," says Richard Kim, head of design, Faraday Future. "This project liberated our designers and inspired new approaches for vehicle forms, proportions, and packaging that we can apply to our upcoming production models."
The video below introduces the FFZERO1 concept.
Source: Faraday Future
