Faraday Future to Compete With Tesla for Electric Cars by 2017

Innovation spurs competition in the free market, which is why Tesla could find itself with competition as early as 2017.

Faraday Future has announced it will enter the fray of energy-efficient, self-driving vehicles that may save the lives of everyone from Hollywood executives to everyday commuters.

Right now, Faraday’s a relatively secretive startup based in Southern California. But today it unveiled plans for a $1 billion production facility that may soon make it a name as recognizable as Tesla.

Nick Thompson, senior vice-president of Faraday Future, said in a statement that “our range of 100 percent electric and intelligent vehicles will offer seamless connectivity to the outside world.”

What’s more, Faraday Future intends to throw its hat in the autonomous technology ring. It will also experiment with unconventional ownership and usage models, and also incorporate in-vehicle content, company officials announced.

“With energy constraints, urban crowding, and the increasingly intrinsic relationship we have with technology, today’s cars simply do not meet today’s needs,” Thompson said.

While Faraday wants its cars on the road by 2017, it first needs to find a suitable location for its production facility.

“Producing our forward-looking and fully-connected electric vehicles not only requires the latest technology, but the right community partner,” according to Thompson, and the company is currently considering locations in California, Georgia, Louisiana, and Nevada.

If Faraday were to hypothetically get its first vehicle onto the streets under its projected timeline, it would find itself well behind Elon Musk’s pioneering transport leader. By 2017, Tesla will have three vehicles: the Model X, Model S, and the forthcoming Model 3, which is set for market arrival in March 2016.

Yet as far back as July, the company has been poaching Tesla’s best talent.