South Korean firm LG Chem is one of the largest suppliers of lithium-ion battery cells for electric cars.
It already counts 25 separate auto brands among its clients, and parent company LG contracted with General Motors to provide extensive development work on the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car.
Now LG Chem is adding another, much new carmaker to its client list.
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Chinese-backed startup Faraday Future announced Monday that it had reached an agreement for the Korean company to provide lithium-ion cells.
The two companies will also collaborate on further development of battery technology, “resulting in the world’s highest energy density for a production automotive battery,” according to a Faraday Future press release.
LG Chem worked closely with Faraday to develop a “tailored cell chemistry” for production battery packs, Tom Wessner, Faraday VP of Global Supply Chain, said.
Faraday Future Variable Platform Architecture
But the company was still mum on details of the production electric cars that will use these cells.
We do know that Faraday’s first production model will use the Variable Product Architecture (VPA) platform that supported the FFZero1 concept Faraday Future unveiled at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
The FFZero1 was a fantasy electric supercar concept built solely to demonstrate the flexibility of this modular platform, and does not provide any real indication of what Faraday’s first production car will be like.
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In August, a heavily-camouflaged vehicle reputed to be a prototype for Faraday Future’s first production model was spotted in the Los Angeles area.
It had a fairly low roofline, but also a tall body and rear hatch, indicating that it might be a crossover utility vehicle.
Various reports and statements by the company have also hinted that Faraday will build self-driving cars, although perhaps not immediately.
Purported Faraday Future test mule (Photo by Twitter user Everette Taylor)
Faraday has said it will start production of its first electric car within two years, an ambitious goal considering the company doesn’t even have a completed factory.
Earlier this year, it broke ground on a factory in North Las Vegas, Nevada, claiming it would spend $1 billion on the project.
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That funding comes largely from Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting’s holdings in LeEco, the massive tech company he founded.
LeEco is thought to be investigating making its own electric cars in China, and has a partnership with Aston Martin in addition to U.S.-based Faraday.
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