Faraday Future is apparently the real deal. Bankrolled by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, the electric car startup announced today a new partnership with Dragon Racing that will see the company lend its expertise towards producing an electric car for use in the FIA Formula E Championship.
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Not to be confused with Formula One (though governed by the same body), Formula E racing — as the name subtly implies — involves electric cars exclusively. In accordance with the partnership, Faraday Future will be part of a new race team called Faraday Future Dragon Racing Formula E that will begin competing in Formula E’s upcoming season in October.
According to the announcement, Faraday Future will be a title sponsor and “core technical partner” of Dragon Racing, a team owned by Jay Penske.
“Formula E has placed a significant emphasis on electric performance and connectivity which makes it a great fit for Faraday Future,” Faraday Future executive Marco Mattiacci said in a press release. “Formula E has leveraged a community of fans and embodies the competitive spirit that we also share.”
Commenting on the partnership, FIA Formula E President Alejandro Agag welcomed Faraday Future to the racing world with enthusiasm.
“We are thrilled to welcome Faraday Future into Formula E,” Agag said. “Faraday Future is a brand that is targeting the highest standard in terms of design, R&D and manufacturing of electric cars and we couldn’t be happier that they have chosen Formula E to challenge some of the greatest car companies in the world.”
Per the press release, the partnership between Faraday Future and Dragon Racing will only grow deeper over a period of three years. In 2016, Faraday Future will leverage their R&D to explore ways to “improve overall drivetrain performance” and enhance performance data and analytics. In 2017, Dragon Racing will begin implementing Faraday Future developed technologies. And in 2018, “Faraday Future and Dragon Racing will work together to implement various Faraday powertrain components, software, firmware and other hardware as the team sees fit.”
Disclosure: Jay Penske is the CEO of Penske Media Corp., BGR’s parent company
