Faraday Future drops hints ahead of EV reveal

Faraday Future, the California-based electric vehicle startup, has released teaser photos of its first produuction model, building anticipation for the unveiling next month.

The unnamed EV will be unveiled Jan. 3 at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which also happens to be where Faraday hopes to complete a factory to build vehicles.

The shape of the vehicle appears to be an SUV in the mold of Tesla's Model X. The Faraday is likely a high-end luxury vehicle, maybe aiming higher than the Model X.

Faraday has financial backing from Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, who amassed his fortune with a video streaming company (a so-called Chinese Netflix) and whose LeEco company also is venturing into electric cars. It has shown a Tesla Model S-like concept car in China. Faraday says it is developing a modular EV structure that could underpin multiple vehicles.

At the 2016 CES, many had expected Faraday to show a version of its car, but instead it unveiled an exotic car concept, the FFZero1.

Like Tesla, the company is named for an electrical pioneer, British scientist Michael Faraday, who is credited with discoveries in electromagnetic induction, a basic principle in electric motors, in the early 19th century.