Screenshot via Twitter
Faraday Future's prototype?
A photo posted to Twitter on Monday, taken in Los Angeles, features what appears to be a midsize crossover SUV. And according to a report from Electrek, the vehicle is one of Faraday Future's vehicles.
The vehicle is obviously a test car, decked out in the black and white camouflage that carmakers use to make it hard to see the shape of a new model clearly.
Of course we can't say for sure that this car is FF's first model.
As with any car that's under development, this one is almost indiscernible from the outside, but there are a few reasons why this could be a sign that FF is further emerging from the shadows.
For starters, FF is based in the Los Angeles area so it makes sense that the car would first appear there.
The company gave us a big hint with this teaser image four months ago.
Faraday Future
A teaser image of what may be Faraday Future's forthcoming production vehicle.
In a conversation with Business Insider in April, FF's director of communications, Stacy Morris, said the teaser image "gives you a sense of the shape" of its forthcoming production car. "You can see what the proportions are," she said.
"Our first vehicle will be at the premium end of the segment, it will be an electric vehicle," Morris added.
The timing is right
REUTERS/Steve Marcus
Nick Sampson, Faraday Future senior vice president of research and development and product development, speaks before the unveiling of the Faraday Future FFZERO1 electric concept car at a news conference in Las Vegas, Nevada January 4, 2016.
"We're testing both mechanical and software systems," Nick Sampson, FF's senior vice president of research, development, and engineering, told Business Insider in April. "Before the end of this year, we'll have full prototypes that represent our production cars," he said.
Testing driverless technology
Screenshot via Faraday Future
The company has been operating test mules for some time now. Those mules - which are competitors' cars with FF's hardware and software beneath the sheet metal - have undergone testing throughout the country. FF made news in Detroit in June when it was revealed that the company sought permission to test self-driving cars there.
It was approved to test driverless cars in California the same month.
Now this
Screenshot via Twitter
A concept version of Faraday Future's production car?
FF wasn't immediately available for comment on this photo. Of course a crossover SUV isn't exactly a unique design, so this may well be some other company testing a new model. But there's a reason FF is the name that sprung to mind for several people on social media.
The secretive electric-car company made its world debut in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and it's been running in high gear ever since.
The company broke ground on a 900-acre assembly plant in North Las Vegas in April, added top talent from Ferrari, Apple, and Tesla among others, and launched plans for a second factory in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Up to this point, the only thing that was missing is FF's actual cars. Until now, the only publicly known vehicle from the company was its FFZero-1 model - a "car of concepts," as the company put it - but not something that was intended for the road.
If this latest image is any indication, it would appear that FF is getting ready to hit the road.