On a recent Thursday night, an event showcased an “AI” electric van with a huge digital “face” on its front, claiming to feel emotions and even empathize. Hosted by Faraday Future, a company founded by Chinese businessman Jia Yueting, the event drew celebrities, influencers, and media attention to a rebranded Chinese van with supposed AI capabilities that allow it to “feel what you feel.” This article provides an inside look at the event and the vehicle, which was described as having a “soul.”
The Story Behind Faraday Future
Faraday Future is a California-based company with a complicated past, starting with high hopes back in 2017 but mostly resulting in delays and unfulfilled promises. Its founder, Yueting “YT” Jia, was once celebrated as a top internet entrepreneur in China but later fell out of favor due to unpaid debts.
The company's most well-known product is the FF 91, introduced at CES 2017 with impressive specs: over 1,000 horsepower, 378 miles of electric range, and Level 4 autonomous driving. Faraday Future planned to build a new factory in Nevada for production, but the factory never materialized. The company ceased work before unveiling the FF 91, leading to harsh criticism and accusations of being a “Ponzi scheme.” After years of delays, only 16 FF 91 vehicles exist, mostly distributed to employees and spokespeople.
Faraday Future has since returned to CES with new offerings. One of these is the FX “Super One,” a rebadged Chinese plug-in hybrid MPV, representing the company’s latest attempt to gain traction.
The Event Experience
The invitation promised “the world’s first AI-powered luxury MPV” and introduced the “Super EAI F.A.C.E. (Front AI Communication Ecosystem).” The language was vague and somewhat confusing, setting the tone for a peculiar event.
Arrival and Initial Impressions
The reveal took place on the rooftop of a downtown LA parking garage. After arriving at the VIP level, guests encountered the Faraday Future FF91 2.0 Futurist. A quick ride demonstrated its impressive acceleration.
Guests then moved to a bar area featuring colorful cakes branded with Faraday X stickers. The crowd included journalists, influencers, and Faraday Future insiders. A brief ride in the soon-to-be-revealed van showed a nice interior but didn’t provide much else.
Unexpected Red Carpet
Suddenly, a large security guard directed two journalists to a red carpet, where they were filmed walking up to an interview setup. Justin Bell, a Le Mans winner, was there to interview journalists live for the event audience. This unusual twist added an awkward and confusing layer to the event.
The Reveal of the FX “Super One”
The main event featured a presentation with company leaders and celebrity guests, including Paul Walker’s brother Cody and racing driver Lindsay Brewer. They unveiled the FX Super One, which turned out to be a van with a large screen on its nose—clearly a rebadged Great Wall Motors Wey MPV.
The company claimed this van was “expressive, emotional, and continuously evolving,” with the ability to perceive, empathize, and eventually act. The presentation described it as a “smart copilot that actually understands you” and said the “Super EAI Face system” had given the van what might be called a “soul.”
Faraday Future stressed how the van “feels what you feel,” offering “multimodal reasoning and decision making.” It was even suggested that the van wants you to love it because it was “built to understand you.”
The slides highlighted five “breakthroughs,” two powertrain options (fully electric and hybrid), and an “EAI” (Embodied Artificial Intelligence) cabin that “knows what you want—before you do.” Despite the ambitious language, many features appeared standard for vehicles of this type.
The interior was notably luxurious, showcased in videos featuring actors and even the CEO’s daughters using the van’s face screen to sing karaoke. The company also announced it had secured over 10,000 binding deposits for pre-orders, an impressive figure given the vehicle’s origins.
Interestingly, the CEO invited the public to participate in shaping the final pricing via an online platform, which is an uncommon approach for vehicle MSRP.
About the Vehicle: A Rebadged Wey Van
Closer inspection revealed that the FX Super One is essentially a rebadged Great Wall Motors Wey van. The exterior sheet metal, interior design, and much of the hardware underneath are identical. Although Faraday Future did not openly acknowledge this partnership, the similarities were unmistakable.
Final Thoughts
The event delivered exactly what was expected: a minivan with a digital face that claims to perceive emotions and empathize. The spectacle included celebrity appearances and bold claims, all centered around a vehicle that is fundamentally a rebadged Chinese MPV.
Whether this approach will resonate with the market remains to be seen. For now, Faraday Future’s latest offering stands as a curious mix of technology hype and rebranding efforts.
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