賈躍亭投資概念電動車亮相CES
Faraday Future, a secretive US automotive start-up bankrolled by a Chinese internet billionaire, revealed its prototype electric vehicle for the first time on Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
本週一，神祕的美國電動汽車初創公司Faraday Future在拉斯維加斯國際消費電子展(Consumer Electronics Show)上首次揭幕了其電動車原型，該公司的投資人是一位中國互聯網億萬富翁。
Its Batmobile-style FFZERO1 concept car embeds a smartphone in the steering wheel to give the vehicle a “sixth sense”, personalised to its driver’s preferences but also capable of piloting itself.
這款名爲“FFZERO1”的概念車外觀酷似“蝙蝠戰車”，方向盤上嵌入了一部智能手機，爲汽車賦予了“第六感”，不但個性化了駕駛者的喜好，還可用於駕駛本身。
While it is uncertain whether the four-motor, 1,000-horsepower vehicle will ever go into production, Faraday Future said it used the same “modular” manufacturing technique that would underpin all its vehicles.
雖然目前尚不確定這款配置了四臺發動機、1000馬力的汽車是否有投產的一天，但Faraday Future表示旗下所有汽車將全部採用同樣的“模塊化”生產工藝。
Nick Sampson, senior vice-president of R&D and product development, said the “Variable Platform Architecture” would allow Faraday Future to bring a range of electric cars to market at a faster pace than traditional automakers, who he said were moving too slowly to build environmentally friendly and internet-connected vehicles.
Faraday Future主管研發和產品開發的高級副總裁尼克儠湨森(Nick Sampson)表示，“可變平臺架構”將允許該公司比傳統汽車更快速地向市場推出一系列電動汽車。桑普森表示傳統車企進展太慢，打造不出環保的、聯網的汽車。
Speculation about the 18-month-old California-based company intensified in recent weeks after it said in December that it would build a 3m square foot, $1bn manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, ahead of the planned launch of its first vehicle in 2017.
去年12月Faraday Future表示將斥資10億美元，在北拉斯維加斯建造一座300萬平方英尺的製造廠，並計劃於2017年推出首款汽車，令外界在最近幾周對這家位於加州的、才成立一年半的公司增加了猜測。
Thanks to constant connectivity and autonomous driving technology, Faraday Future’s cars might be owned outright by consumers or rented in a way that Mr Sampson likened to a mobile subscription or a digital media app such as Spotify or Netflix.
由於穩定的聯網以及自動駕駛技術，消費者也許可以立即擁有Faraday Future的汽車，或通過桑普森所說的手機訂購方式，或是Spotify、Netflix等數字媒體應用來租賃該公司的汽車。
Much of Faraday’s initial funding came from Jia Yueting, the founder of Chinese internet group Letv, who has said he hopes to beat Tesla in the nascent market for connected, electric cars.
Faraday Future的大部分初始資金來自中國互聯網集團樂視(Letv)的創始人賈躍亭，他曾表示希望在互聯網電動汽車新興市場打敗特斯拉(Tesla)。
On Monday, Faraday also announced its partnership with Letv, which offers internet and video content in China as well as smartphones and connected television sets on which to watch it. Letv has previously partnered with Aston Martin on in-car “infotainment” systems.
Faraday Future還在週一宣佈了與樂視的合夥關係。樂視是中國一家互聯網和視頻內容提供商，同時還推出了智能手機以及可觀看這些內容的網絡電視機。樂視此前與阿斯頓氠丁(Aston Martin)合作推出了車載“信息娛樂”系統。
Construction will start on its Nevada facility in the coming weeks, it said on Monday, as it continues a frantic hiring spree.
Faraday Future還在週一表示未來幾周將開始在其內華達州工廠開工，延續其招聘熱潮。
“We are growing a team very fast,” Mr Sampson, a former engineer at Tesla and Lotus Engineering, told the Financial Times, with more than 550 employees in the US and another 200 through partnerships around the world.
桑普森曾在特斯拉和蓮花工程(Lotus Engineering)擔任工程師，他向英國《金融時報》表示：“我們團隊的建設速度非常快。”該公司在美國的僱員已超過550人，另外通過合作伙伴關係在全球還有200名僱員。
