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I'm beginning to believe that this enterprise is mostly focused on China. Some of the goofiness on the race car are things that nobody ever asked for, like oxygen and water, but might make sense in China to somebody.

Heck, water has been plumbed into helmets along with air filters for motorcycle racing, baja, desert etc. for years. Like their chassis, there is absolutely nothing that is unique, or hasn't been done elsewhere.

They showed a mock up at a major event (not even a running prototype) from a new company that is touted as being super duper fast, but it could have been done by any high school science fair project team.

As to all the missing pieces of infrastructure, plus any actual real cars, I predict it will take them very very long time to do anything concrete. With a guy as focused, driven and talented as Elon Musk at the helm of Tesla, it took them a long time to get many things mostly right! But, having nobody and hoping for the best is not even realistic. Again, it speaks of high school science fair planning, with the school teacher watching from a distance.

Let's face it, if they can't show us anything unique at a place where having something unique means something, like CES in Las Vegas, then it's very unlikely that have anything truly unique.

I'm truly amazed that they were able to attract talent from places like Apple, Google and Tesla... they must be very embarrassed right now. I guess as long as the money keeps rolling in, most of them will keep showing up for work until poached to the next company.

It's great that these companies use Tesla as the landmark, but it might be beneficial to actually look beyond Tesla at what's next.
 
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China is the only really big growth market for cars in the world. Considering the financial backer for this company is a Chinese billionaire, that may be where their primary market is going to be. Though if that is the case, building their first factory in Nevada doesn't make much sense. It makes some sense to have designers in California. California has become the cutting edge place for innovative design in a lot of areas, but manufacturing in China is cheaper and if they are aiming for the Chinese market, building it in China would avoid import duties and the perception that it's a foreign car in the minds of Chinese consumers.
 
While I believe a fast charging network is important, they have time on that front, Remember that there were zero superchargers when Tesla announced the MS, and in fact they didn't start building any until after a lot of people had already bought.

My concern is entirely about the lack of a car. They've burned through a lot of cash, but don't have anything to show for it. At least nothing that they've been willing to show anyone else, and I can't imagine why you'd book a big flashy reveal, and then forget to reveal something unless you a) don't have anything, and b) have a contractual obligation to reveal something by a certain date.
 
While I believe a fast charging network is important, they have time on that front, Remember that there were zero superchargers when Tesla announced the MS, and in fact they didn't start building any until after a lot of people had already bought.

Back then, there weren't any competitors that had a network. Now, you have someone (Tesla) with a very solid nationwide network and rapid growth. Given that other car manufacturers still have crap for fast chargers in most of the US, Tesla's accomplishment doesn't seem like something that can be easily reproduced.
 
Back then, there weren't any competitors that had a network. Now, you have someone (Tesla) with a very solid nationwide network and rapid growth. Given that other car manufacturers still have crap for fast chargers in most of the US, Tesla's accomplishment doesn't seem like something that can be easily reproduced.
It's not so much that it can't be reproduced, as that the majority of automakers don't want to.
As I said, it's important, but at the stage they're at now, there's no point even talking about it yet. let's learn to crawl before we run an ironman....
 
the perception that it's a foreign car in the minds of Chinese consumers.

Chinese luxury car buyers pay premiums for cars made in Europe or the US over identical models made in China.

Jia Yueting may not be Elon Musk but he is not an idiot.

A car manufactured in the USA by a Chinese owned company might be the perfect combination for Chinese consumers.

I am sure Jia Yueting knows a thing or two about lobbying the Chinese government and working the rules.

My guess is FF vehicles headed to China will be assembled/manufactured in the USA with just enough Chinese content to bypass import duties.

Did they announce a battery factory ? Or plans for one?

Who has excess capacity? The Chinese battery manufacturers.
 
F-FF...just kidding. The VPA is nice, but does the average consumer care? That's more of a cost-saving measure for FF, not a "feature" for the customer. It's not like you'll be able to replace the shell on your skateboard later to make a new car again....or will you?
 
Why do they believe being so secretive is beneficial? I don't get it.

Tesla has been quite secretive about many things. I'm not defining that as good or bad it's just a fact, and it seems that FF is copying Tesla in a few areas. There can be a lot of reasons for the secrecy from they've got nothing to show, to they aren't able to answer all the questions they'll be asked about specifics, to they want to simply be dramatic.

I watched the whole interview. I thought the interviewer at times was purposely antagonistic and rude, and not for a second do I believe he'd talk in that manner if it was Elon Musk sitting across from him. Mr. Sampson remained good-natured throughout even though I'm sure he wanted to punch the guy. That doesn't mean I didn't giggle a few times, nor does it mean I like what Mr. Sampson has to say - I don't.
 
Tesla has been quite secretive about many things. I'm not defining that as good or bad it's just a fact, and it seems that FF is copying Tesla in a few areas. There can be a lot of reasons for the secrecy from they've got nothing to show, to they aren't able to answer all the questions they'll be asked about specifics, to they want to simply be dramatic.

I watched the whole interview. I thought the interviewer at times was purposely antagonistic and rude, and not for a second do I believe he'd talk in that manner if it was Elon Musk sitting across from him. Mr. Sampson remained good-natured throughout even though I'm sure he wanted to punch the guy. That doesn't mean I didn't giggle a few times, nor does it mean I like what Mr. Sampson has to say - I don't.
I can understand secrecy but this was a big public announcement for the company and all they do is show an impractical never to be built concept and say that this is not what they're working on and refuse to say anything about what they are working on. Why even bother?
The interview was aggressive and I think it was appropriate.
 
Tesla has been quite secretive about many things. I'm not defining that as good or bad it's just a fact, and it seems that FF is copying Tesla in a few areas. There can be a lot of reasons for the secrecy from they've got nothing to show, to they aren't able to answer all the questions they'll be asked about specifics, to they want to simply be dramatic.

I watched the whole interview. I thought the interviewer at times was purposely antagonistic and rude, and not for a second do I believe he'd talk in that manner if it was Elon Musk sitting across from him. Mr. Sampson remained good-natured throughout even though I'm sure he wanted to punch the guy. That doesn't mean I didn't giggle a few times, nor does it mean I like what Mr. Sampson has to say - I don't.

I just don't understand the secrecy at a massively public event designed to specifically reveal a product to consumers. It makes no sense to me.

I think the interviewer was a bit more antagonistic than he ought to have been, but I think he was asking all the right questions. Frankly, I could even understand why someone involved in tech journalism would be a bit miffed at what FF "revealed," especially with all the hype leading up to it. I think you could even argue that they were a bit disrespectful.
 
I just watched the interview. Neither of them are the smoothest in interviews, but it's essentially geekfest 2016.

I was listening for content as well as sussing up what Nick Sampson wasn't saying. He was cagey with the question of whether the car they presented would ever get built or not and he stressed that they would be building something else on this base platform. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was in his manner, but I got the impression he would have preferred to present something more practical than something a kid would draw as their fantasy sports car.

Overall, the fact FF presented that car as their concept car at CES telegraphs something important about FF, their marketing department (at minimum) is being run or controlled by amateurs at PR. If they really do have something more practical in the works, why didn't they present that rather than a 12 year old boy's impractical dream? They make noises about taking on Tesla, but Tesla puts usefulness first and play second. The P90DL has enough oomph to shock and awe, but you can actually do shock and awe on 4 passengers at once with a week's luggage for all of them in the back. And you can take them rather long distances too.

Tesla did come out with the Roadster first, but that was also a proof of concept that somebody could actually put a real all electric sports car into production. Electrics had a lot of stereotypes Tesla was trying to break and that had already been broken. There is no more need for the proof of that concept. Again, it was a pragmatic message hidden behind a fun car.

Sampson also wanted to spend way too much time focused on the technological goodies in the car rather than the practical aspects of what makes it a car, even when asked point blank. OK, it has 4G, just like the Tesla Model S. Big deal, I want to hear noises they have some clue about actually building a car that works. One thing that kills many automotive start ups is poor reliability. While the Model S has had a number of mechanical issues, it's been much more reliable than most cars from start ups. Electronic gadgetry might be nice, but it's useless if the car is unreliable. If FF ever does make it to production, I would not be surprised if their initial reliability is far worse than the Model S was when it was introduced.

I just don't get the feeling FF quite knows what they are doing.