The first complete body-in-white (BiW) Faraday Future FF 91 has been produced at the new FF Hanford, California, factory two days ahead of schedule. As part of its rigorous development program, the FF 91 underwent more than two years of intensive testing.
Tooling and equipment manager for body-in-white, Hector Padilla, who helps oversee the production process on-site, said, “It is honestly inspiring to see how hard we as a team are working to achieve FF 91. And it is not that we must push people to work, but everyone is more and more eager to do so as they see the complete car become a reality.”
Several cutting-edge manufacturing technologies will be applied in the production of the FF 91 BiW; by December the Hanford factory will have the capability to use all techniques.
This includes the following: more than 1,500 self-piercing rivets for joining the aluminum body structure; body-joining technologies including aluminum-resistant spot welding, and cold metal transfer welding; Flowform screw technology enabling an innovative unidirectional joining process not possible with conventional sheetmetal joining methods; the first application of Flexweld resistance element welding on class A panels, facilitating aluminum-to-steel welding; and use of wireless transducerized torque tools for all appropriate safety-critical points.
Senior VP of manufacturing at FF, Dag Reckhorn, said, “There is no question that this team and our suppliers have faced many huge challenges in getting FF 91 to this point, and even slightly ahead of schedule. This is really a huge accomplishment over these past two years. Our constant focus on teamwork, avoiding functional ‘silos’, has paid off.”
FF founder and global CEO YT Jia said, “This is one of many big milestones ahead for FF as we enter the final stage in introducing ‘our new species’, the FF 91 flagship. In the truest FF spirit, our teams and global partners have gone above and beyond to get to this important phase ahead of schedule.
“Everything we do relies on our proven UP2U (user planning to user) approach. FF will redefine the meaning of customization at a whole new in-depth, high-end and personalized level – each user in the near future will have the opportunity to provide input and witness the creation of their own personal FF 91 along the bespoke production line at FF Hanford.”
