Faraday Future presents ‘Fresh Beginning’ with prototype pickup truck at CES 2025

At CES 2017, Faraday Future introduced its futuristic luxury electric car, the FF 91. Seven years later, after repeated delays, bankruptcy, lawsuits and other controversies, the company sold “15 or 16” FF 91s. The company is now detailing its latest strategic shift, with a plan to sell cheap electric cars under its newly announced lower cost . FX CEO Max Ma came to CES, along with two concept cars, to pitch the plan, which he described as a “fresh start” for the beleaguered company.

As you might expect with Faraday, the exact details are somewhat vague, but it involves sourcing parts from Chinese automakers and bringing them to the U.S. to produce “mainstream, full-volume vehicles” with some of the premium touches that Faraday is known for. “We want to take the $300,000 car experience from the technology, features and performance (standpoint) to a $30,000 and $40,000 car to try to upgrade the overall user experience,” Ma said during a press conference with Engadget. The first FX, the flagship product of the brand’s range, will be a pickup truck or, as Ma referred to it, an “AI-powered multi-purpose vehicle.”

Faraday demonstrated two small model cars to illustrate this concept. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but the car in the photo at the top of this post is the one I saw.

One was intended to demonstrate the kind of premium in-cabin experience that Faraday envisioned for the low-cost car. It had two rows of white leather captain’s chairs. The second-row seats have footrests, heated seats and built-in massage devices. There was also a small refrigerator under the center console to keep drinks cold. The car was missing its door handles and several other parts. “Obviously we’ll have door handles,” a Faraday rep assured us.

The second minibus was less complete. The entire interior, including the dashboard and instrument cluster, is covered in black fabric held together with tie clips. But a Faraday representative took me and two other reporters on a tour of the car, as we drove in small, slow circles around a Las Vegas parking lot. Later, Faraday offered to let me take the minibus for a spin, and I – apparently the “first lady” driving the car – also drove the car in slow circles around the parking lot. I’m not sure what I was supposed to get out of it, although it felt like I was driving a pickup truck.

Faraday claims it will begin production of the yet-to-be-named car later this year, with the first car rolling off the production line by the end of 2025, according to a timeline shared by Ma. This is a noble promise given the company’s past history of mismanagement and delays. Matthias Aidt, CEO of Faraday Future, also acknowledged that the company has not yet finalized its partnerships with the companies that will supply its parts. He also did not address how tariffs would affect those plans.

Ma said he understood the skepticism. “Basically, this is kind of a fresh start. We really want to prove that with our dedication to hard work, we can deliver what we promised.”