For all its troubles, would-be Tesla rival Faraday Future at least finally has a real car—and a YouTuber has captured some footage of the FF 91 crossover in action, reportedly in West Hollywood.
This version of the vehicle lacks some of the pizzazz of the show car unveiled at CES, with downgraded taillights and side mirrors, body panels in a dull matte black, and some very distracting hubcaps. And though Faraday is promising full autonomous capabilities when the FF 91 is released, this one is depending on a human to guide it.
But it’s still pretty clear it’s a Faraday. The rear lower corner panels are a very close match to previously-seen demo cars, and very distinctive. The roof line is identical. Despite the weird pattern laid over them, those are definitely the same hubcaps.
Headlights, as seen in this photo shared by the creator of the video, also match up.
Faraday future Prototype pic.twitter.com/PgSKPBu4fX
— Frank White (@weho662) March 31, 2017
What’s really intriguing, though, is that the FF 91 was spotted driving behind a Tesla Model X—in the video poster’s words, “glued to” it. And though it’s not entirely clear from the footage, according to a comment in the video, both vehicles were sporting the same low-profile roof sensor array, suggesting that some sort of self-driving component was being tested, with the Tesla possibly being used for benchmarking.
Faraday Future is one of about two dozen companies authorized to test self-driving cars in California (a list, by the way, that still doesn’t include Uber).
In a shorter (and more, um, sideways) followup video from the same user, Inverse spotted the Faraday logo written in the road-crud on the prototype’s rear windshield – along with a crossed-out Tesla logo for good measure.