Now Faraday Future is working on a self-driving car, too

Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting is interested in self-driving vehicles – we know that because his company, LeEco, is working on one. But Jia is also the man and the money behind the US-based electric car startup Faraday Future. Faraday has previously revealed a crazy electric sports car prototype, but it wasn’t self-driving (in fact, the human driver has to be strapped in with a seat-connected helmet!). Now, Reuters is reporting that it’s working on a self-driving vehicle, too:

Faraday Future plans to begin testing prototype self-driving electric vehicles on California roads later this year after winning approval from the state, an industry source said on Tuesday.

The China-backed, Los Angeles-based startup plans to begin building and selling electric vehicles next year in the United States, but has not disclosed details of its self-driving program.

A spokesperson from the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday confirmed that Faraday had been approved to test self-driving vehicles on public roads on June 17.

Faraday is one of several Chinese-funded startups hoping to challenge Tesla Motors Inc in premium electric vehicles.

Like Tesla, Faraday also hopes to add self-driving capability to its vehicles, but has not provided a timetable. Faraday has been testing prototype vehicles for the past year at private facilities, according to the source familiar with the company’s program.

The Reuters report also says that Faraday Future’s first consumer car won’t be self-driving but will include some automated driving features similar to those available in Tesla vehicles.

Questions have been raised about Faraday Future and its lofty goals, and there are some interesting questions being asked about the way Jia Yueting is funding these future-car dreams, too. Whether we’ll actually see a self-driving Faraday Future car hit the streets is anyone’s guess.

But if the car really does take to the roads later this year, it’ll be tough to miss if it looks anything like the audacious concept car the company showed off last year.