Faraday Future Introduced its First Production Car FF91; Second-Generation Nissan LEAF Will Have 200 Miles and Self-driving; World Largest Battery Factory Starts Production
Faraday Future Introduced its First Production Car FF91
According to Fortune, the EV startup Faraday Future introduced its FF91 model during the 2017 CES. The EV will have an electro-range of about 378 miles, a top speed of over 200 mph and 0-60 mph acceleration of 2.39 seconds.
The car will also be loaded with technologies. It can recognize passengers even when they are not in the car. There are two Internet hotspots to ensure continuous connectivity. FF91 will be highly customizable as well.
Potential customers can pre-order the car by putting a refundable $5,000. The delivery is expected to start in 2018.
Second-Generation Nissan LEAF Will Have 200 Miles and Self-driving
According to Green Car Reports, during the 2017 CES, Nissan Senior VP Takao Asami confirmed that the new LEAF would have an electro-range “at or above 200 miles” with at least one variant. He also mentioned that the company was trying to figure out whether or not to introduce different ranges in different regions like North America, Europe and Asia.
Furthermore, Nissan CEO Mr. Carlos Ghosn announced that the ProPilot self-driving technology would be available for the new LEAF. The feature will enable autonomous driving on a highway in certain circumstances. Mr. Ghosn said that the new car will be launched “in the near future”, but did not go any more specific.
World Largest Battery Factory Starts Production
According to Tesla, its Gigafactory began the production of Li-ion battery cells on Jan. 4. These cells will first go into Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy storage products. Starting in Q2, cells for the upcoming Model 3 will be built. By 2018, the factory will output 35 GWh/year of battery cells, which is close to today’s global cell production. Because of this high production capacity, Tesla expects that the “cost of battery cells will significantly decline”.
The Gigafactory is being constructed in phases. Right now, it is less than 30% completed, but production can be started in the finished sections already. Once done, it will most likely be the biggest building in the world.