Faraday Future, the secretive electric car startup with ambitions to overtake Tesla, unveiled its first production vehicle Tuesday, proclaiming it to be a "new species" for personal transportation. The company, backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting (YT Jia), announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that it would begin taking reservations for deliveries in 2018 with a $5,000 deposit for its FF91 model.

Faraday, which last year unveiled its prototype and is building a factory outside Las Vegas, did not offer details on pricing of the new vehicle. But it touted specifications on battery range, power and acceleration which pointed to a high-end vehicle, outperforming Tesla on key benchmarks.

In one key benchmark, the Faraday offers an estimated 378 miles (604 kilometers) of range before needed recharging, based on US testing standards, better than Tesla's 315 miles. Based on European testing standards, the range is 700 kilometers or some 435 miles.

"This is day one of a new era of mobility," said executive vice president of engineering Nick Sampson. "This is the first of a new species."

The vehicle is packed with technology: it has a semi-autonomous mode which allows for self-parking, and multiple modems to connect to the internet. It personalises settings for each driver and occupant. "Everyone in the car will have their own seat configured for them," Sampson said.

Faraday's tests show it accelerates from zero to 60 mph (100 kph) in an eye-popping 2.39 seconds, outclocking key rivals.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017