Check out the impossibly futuristic Faraday Future FFZero1 concept carMumbai, Jan 5(AZINS) If the success of Tesla’s electric cars is anything to go by, we can’t wait for this year to usher in a range of options from other manufacturers--I mean who wouldn’t want a completely non-polluting, high-performance car? The good news is… there’s been good news.

A fledgling car company called Faraday Future recently unveiled what looks to be a pretty big step into the future of electric cars, nascent as the field is. At a press conference on the cusp of the CES 2016 event in Las Vegas, the company’s top brass showcased a prototype--and a automotive vision--that left people buzzing.

The fact that this isn’t just any other car company is evident given that many of its leaders come from royal automotive and technology lineage, including the likes of BMW, Jaguar, Lotus, even Tesla, Apple and Boeing. So cars, aircraft, smartphones--this was bound to be a glorious mashup of fields.

Like Tesla that has reiterated their interest in creating a future-first ecosystem for electric cars, Faraday Future outlined similar plans for their electric car vision. During their press conferences, phrases like "We have a transformative vision." and “Embarking on nothing less than a complete rethink of what mobility means" were prevalent.

And their announced alliance with Chinese technology company LEtv seemed to lend further credence to this grand vision of smart, connected electric cars. A part of this alliance, LEtv will apparently be taking on the job of creating the Internet infrastructure to connect these vehicles along with the entertainment system that runs in them.

Faraday Future also stressed that it is a ‘fast’ company, referring to its agility in being able to design and develop its vehicles. Comparing themselves to the progress of Tesla (the ex-company of several of its employees,) Faraday Future which was founded 18 months ago already has 750 employees and claims to deliver their first vehicle in ‘a couple of years time’; Tesla was founded nine years before the production of their first mass-market production vehicle.

Their prototype vehicle called FFZero1, which was unveiled during the press conference, looked like it shares DNA from the Batmobile and a TRON vehicle. Its other-worldly design is apparently the perfect teardrop shape that results in a very low drag coefficient. It features a multitouch screen, with augmented reality projected on the road "as a digital copilot," along with a smartphone dock built into the steering wheel. Also located in the spine of the car’s headrest is an oxygen and water supply through a port to the driver’s helmet, also designed in-house.

Once more stressing on their agility, the company also described a new design and manufacturing approach they call ‘Variable Platform Architecture’. This approach purportedly enables them to more efficiently create a range of ‘smart and connected’ electric vehicles with diverse configurations of batteries, wheelbases and motors depending on the class of vehicle needed--from sports cars to sedans to SUVs. Each of these would be based on the same underlying platform, but can be set up to have different operational ranges, power ratings and drivetrain options.

Central to this modular design system are new battery arrays, which are arranged in "strings" where banks of batteries can be added or removed depending on the particular layout and power requirement of the car variation.

Likening the car’s launch to that of the original iPhone in 2007, Nick Sampson, Senior VP of R&D and Product Development said, "Apple didn't just redefine the phone, it transformed the way that we communicate, organize and enjoy our lives." "That is what we at Faraday and Future are looking to do. We're looking to the future, seeking opportunities and looking to bring them to live to help redefine the world of mobility."

We’re barely a few days into 2016 and it’s clearly started off on an exciting note--we’ll be bringing you more big announcements in our in-depth CES 2016 coverage over the rest of the week. Stay tuned!

Endnote: check out this cool 360-degree driver's perspective VR video of the FFZero1 car--watch with Google Cardboard for maximum effect!