The Chinese-backed electric-car start up Faraday Future has joined Formula E as headline sponsor for the 2016 Long Beach ePrix race.
The Long Beach race, now known as the 2016 Faraday Future Long Beach ePrix, will take place on Saturday, April 2, 2016.
Faraday Future also confirmed that it will display its FFZER01 concept in the eVillage Fan Zone during the race weekend.
Faraday Future published a Q&A with Nick Sampson, company’s SVP of R&D and Engineering, about his thoughts on the 2016 Faraday Future Long Beach ePrix.
Here’s the Q&A:
What draws you to Formula E?Well, I suppose it’s no secret that I am particularly drawn to competitive racing. I’ve spent countless hours refining high-performance sports vehicles and racing cars at Jaguar, Lotus, and – quite honestly – even in my spare time while working at many other positions, thereafter.
I’m excited to experience this new frontier of automotive competition. Some have this misconception that electric vehicles are somehow “boring” – I think Formula E does a great deal to dispel that theory. These vehicles not only rival their traditional counterparts; they will soon surpass them.
Electric vehicles like FFZERO1 operate more dynamically – for example, we have a motor for each wheel, each controlled individually, optimizing power outputs for more deliberate handling and greater performance. This allows drivers to customize the way their platform operates to truly unleash its potential under their individual driving techniques.
These vehicles are far from boring – on the contrary, they harness far more possibilities than anything we’ve seen before.
How does our involvement with Formula E align with FF’s greater vision?
Formula E is about far more than a few individual, competing race cars. The tournament series showcases the rapid advancement of electric vehicles, in general. It’s an exhibition for the breadth of potential that these technologies can offer – oftentimes leading to revolutionary results.
For instance, Formula E is exploring the potential of connectivity with a new in-race voting feature called “FanBoost.” With it, you can directly support your favorite driver by voting for them online – during the race, the top three drivers with the most votes receive a 30 kWh driver-activated momentary speed boost!
It’s a fascinating, community-driven experience that bridges the connection between drivers and their fans. This novel look at “connection” resembles the communicative capabilities that we are integrating into FF vehicles.
Formula E also serves as a celebration of green, sustainable innovation, linked with assertive performance. This interactivity between rapid technological advancement, entertainment and environmental responsibility is absolutely central to FF.
Does FF have any plans to compete in future seasons of Formula E?
FF will always be looking into the possibility of putting cutting-edge engineering and high technology pursuits to the test – perhaps even through entering automotive competitions. We have no firm plans and are not making any announcements at this time.
