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TECHNOLOGY A23
Tuesday 10 November 2015
Mysterious electric car startup looking to build $1B factory
JUSTIN PRITCHARD from a luminary scientist — nected class. to production — and that’s ENV Inc., according to
Associated Press Michael Faraday — who “People’s lives are when they already have papers filed with the Cali-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The helped harness for human- changed by their mobile their factories up and run- fornia Secretary of State.
luxury electric car market ity the forces of nature. devices, the way that we ning. The address in Beijing is as-
may be small, but it’s lucra- Even Faraday’s public an- interact,” Faraday spokes- “Developing an elec- sociated with Letv, a hold-
tive enough to get another nouncement that Califor- woman Stacy Morris said. tric vehicle platform from ing company founded by
jolt — this time from a mys- Chinese tech pioneer Jia
terious startup that says it This Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 photo shows the Faraday Future building in Gardena, Calif. Faraday Yueting.
wants to re-imagine how Yueting is referred to as
people interact with their Future has been hunting for a place to build what it says will be a $1 billion manufacturing plant China’s equivalent of Jobs,
autos. both for his talk of “disrupt-
The startup’s name is Far- for a new line of cars. Associated Press ing” traditional industries
aday Future, and it has as well as his jeans and T-
been hunting for a place nia, Georgia, Louisiana “The car industry hasn’t scratch takes many years shirt wardrobe at product
to build what it says will be and Nevada are finalists for caught up sufficiently. The and doing it in 18 to 24 launches.
a $1 billion manufacturing the factory mirrors the ap- car still feels like a place months would be a prec- Faraday spokeswoman
plant for a new line of cars. proach Tesla took to build where you’re disconnect- edent-setting event, if it Morris wouldn’t comment
Four states are contenders a massive battery factory. ed.” could be done,” said John on Yueting.
and the company says to Nevada won that bidding Just what that means Gartner a director at the “We’re in stealth mode
expect an announcement war among several states could hit the road as early market intelligence firm where we’re not reveal-
within weeks. last year by offering up to as 2017, when Faraday has Navigant Research. ing ownership,” she said.
Headquartered in a low- $1.3 billion in tax breaks said it wants to bring a car Then again, Faraday was “There’s a significant inves-
profile office just south and other incentives. to market. around for more than a tor who wants the compa-
of Los Angeles, Faraday Faraday hopes to distin- The timeline is ambitious, year before its recent pub- ny to stand on its own merit
is holding a lot of details guish itself by branding the given that it typically takes lic coming out. It was origi- before being associated”
close. Though it won’t con- car less as transportation automakers at least three nally incorporated in Cali- with it.”
firm the source of its funds, than as a tool for the con- years to go from concept fornia in May 2014 as LeTV Navigant projects that
documents filed in Califor- the luxury plug-in market
nia point to a parent com- will grow in the U.S. from
pany run by a Chinese bil- 109,000 cars or SUVs next
lionaire who styles himself year to 468,000 in 2023.
after Apple’s late Steve With a market share in-
Jobs. crease from 0.7 percent
Based on the few other to 2.6 percent of all “light
public clues, Faraday is fol- duty vehicles” (which also
lowing the path blazed by includes vans and pickup
Tesla Motors, its would-be trucks), it’s still a niche mar-
rival hundreds of miles (ki- ket.
lometers) away in Silicon And by 2023, there will be
Valley. even more competition
Like Tesla, Faraday’s car — automakers other than
will be all-electric, and de- Tesla plan to compete for
but at the high end. customers who want luxury
The startup of about 400 electric vehicles.
employees has poached “The market’s only going
executive talent from Tesla to get more challenging,”
and also draws its name Navigant’s Gartner said.q
Tag Heuer, tech companies
unveil $1,500 luxury smartwatch
NEW YORK (AP) — A lead- he calls the “marriage of countries in Europe and This undated image provided by Google shows the Tag Heuer
ing Swiss watchmaker and Watch Valley and Silicon Asia by the end of Novem- Connected luxury watch.
two technology titans Valley.” ber. Apple Watch has a
have combined forces to Various manufacturers luxury edition, with a case Associated Press
produce a computerized have made watches using made of gold, for $10,000
wristwatch billed as the Google’s Android Wear to $17,000. The regular Ap- said Tag Heuer showed his what they are uniquely
“world’s smartest luxury system but they typically ple Watch starts at $349. engineers the design ele- good at and have fused
watch.” look more like mini com- The Tag Heuer Connected ments desired and worked together something that is
Tag Heuer CEO Jean- puters on the wrist rather adopted the company’s with Google to tweak the bigger than the sum of its
Claude Biver said his com- than a traditional watch. Carrera Calibre mechani- Android Wear software for parts,” said David Single-
pany has been building Luxury comes with a price: cal design and uses pre- it. ton, a vice president of
mechanical watches for Tag Heuer Connected mium materials, includ- “Our teams have brought engineering at Google.q
155 years but knew little starts selling in the U.S. on ing titanium lugs and a
about building an Inter- Monday for $1,500. By scratch-resistant sapphire
net-connected device contrast, the cheapest crystal screen. Straps
that younger buyers would Android Wear watch costs come in a choice of seven
want. So it partnered with $129. Sales in Japan begin colors.
Intel and Google in what next week and in other Intel CEO Brian Krzanich
