How do you prove you’re serious about making electric cars? A partnership with one of the suppliers currently producing batteries at scale for shipping vehicles is a good start. Faraday Future announced such a union today, with a new agreement with LG Chem, the lithium-ion cell manufacturer that provides the powerhouses for vehicles including the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
The partnership accounted today will see LG Chem supply batteries for Faraday’s upcoming variable platform architecture (VPA), which is the company’s modular base platform technology that’s designed to be flexible enough to provide the powertrain basis for a range of different types of vehicles. The VPA is designed with cost efficiencies in mind, giving Faraday Future a basic platform to work with that can be extended using adjustable length rails, and equipped with different motor configurations on each axle in order to suit the needs of everything from high performance sports cars to sensible family SUVs.
LG Chem’s battery supply will also be integrated into the VPA platform, presumably allowing for modular battery configuration alongside with other components like wheelbase length.
California-based Faraday Future has revealed very little about its production vehicle plans thus far. It debuted an ambitious race-inspired sports concept, the FFZERO1, at CES in January 2015, and is funded in part by China’s LeEco, which is pursuing a number of routes toward becoming an electric carmaker in its own right. The company is also looking into producing a self-driving car, and a potential Model X competitor spotted in testing which could end up being its first production vehicle.