SF Motors will start taking orders for its SF5 SUV in late 2018, with initial deliveries to begin in 2019. Detailed pricing isn’t yet available.
Surely it’s a coincidence that Silicon Valley-based Chinese EV maker SF Motors chose to unveil two elegant battery-powered crossovers just as Elon Musk tries to stem Tesla’s plunging stock price. But if the startup, which employs a Tesla co-founder, delivers on some big promises the timing will be surprisingly shrewd.
Led by John Zhang, whose family created Chinese automaker Chongqing Sokon Industry Group, SF Motors is promising rechargeable SUVs with up to 300 miles of range per charge from electric powertrains that deliver as much as 1,000 horsepower. Exterior styling for the SF5 and SF7 SUVs was done in California with premium “coastal” looks reminiscent of the Golden State, while interiors were done with partners in Germany, Zhang told Forbes.
“Over 300 miles of range and the acceleration of the vehicle is going to be less than three seconds from 0 to 60 miles,” he said. “That’s some hot figures.”
Pre-orders for the SF5 start later this year, after the start of trial production, with initial deliveries to begin in 2019. Pricing was not disclosed at the debut of the two models at SF Motors’ Santa Clara, California, headquarters. The company will prioritize “protective” autonomous driving and a range of connectivity features, he said, without elaborating.
While a number of Chinese-backed EV startups, including Faraday Future, NIO, Byton, Lucid Motors and Karma, have set up shop in California in recent years, SF Motors arrives with some specific advantages. In addition to its backing from parent company Sokon, SF Motors also has R&D and design operations in the U.S., China, Germany and Japan. Importantly, it already has production facilities that come on line later this year.
Company founder and CEO John Zhang lays out SF Motors strategy before unveiling the company’s first two models at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on March 28, 2018.
In 2017 SF Motors bought the AM General factory in Mishawaka, Indiana, that previously built boxy Hummer SUVs and Mercedes R-Class light trucks. Retooling will be completed by the third quarter with trial production to start soon after, Zhang said. The factory will be able to produce 50,000 vehicles annually.
SF Motors will also have access to a factory in Chongqing, China, that can build 150,000 vehicles for the brand annually, giving it an impressive 200,000-unit production capacity as it ramps up in 2019, to deliver products with “high-quality at scale,” Zhang said. Both factories will be able to make battery packs, motors and other components, as well as multiple SF Motors models.
Not only is it bringing out SUVs that will compete with Tesla’s Model X crossover and its planned Model Y due in about 2020, the electric powertrain was developed with assistance from Martin Eberhard, Tesla’s first CEO and a co-founder who had a high-profile falling out with Musk in 2007. SF Motors bought Eberhard’s battery company Inevit Inc. last year and he serves as its chief innovation officer. Although he didn’t attend the company’s inaugural event late Wednesday, Eberhard appeared briefly via video to express optimism for SF Motors’ future.
Along with the Indiana plant and Silicon Valley headquarters, the company also has an R&D facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the heart of the U.S. auto capital. Zhang declined to say how much SF Motors has invested in total to launch the company, aside from noting that it’s “very, very expensive.”
Prior to SF Motors’ announcement, Tesla dropped 7.7% in Nasdaq trading onMarch 28 and is down 25% since March 12. In addition to delays Tesla has had ramping up production of its Model 3 electric sedan, the National Transportation Safety Board this week said it will investigate a fatal Model X accident in California that may involve the company’s semiautonomous Autopilot system. Moody’s Investors Service also cut its credit rating on Tesla this week, pushing it further into junk status, owing to liquidity concerns as convertible Tesla bonds mature.
While SF Motors will have to prove that its vehicles are ready for U.S. and global consumers, its Chinese ties could work against it in the months ahead, as the Trump Administration prepares to levy trade sanctions on China. Zhang is low-key on that.
“We’re the only EV company with manufacturing facilities in both the U.S. and China,” he said. “We hope this event is resolved softly and quickly.”
The SF7 SUV will be SF Motors’ second model as it builds out an all-electric model line.