DETROIT, June 21 (Reuters) - Faraday Future plans to begin testing prototype self-driving electric vehicles on California roads later this year after winning approval from the state, an industry source said on Tuesday. The China-backed, Los Angeles-based startup plans to begin building and selling electric vehicles next year in the United States, but has not disclosed details of its self-driving program. A spokesperson from the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday confirmed that Faraday had been approved to test self-driving vehicles on public roads on June 17. (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; editing by Diane Craft)
This week the relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer , Faraday motors ( FF ) was granted permission to begin testing its self - driving vehicles on Californian roads later this year . The Los Angeles - based start - up hopes to start building and selling electric vehicles next year in the United States , with plans to take on Tesla , but has not disclosed details regarding its self - driving capabilities . Reuters reports that FF has been testing prototype vehicles for the past year at private facilities . This brings FF in line with Google , Tesla , Volkswagen , Mercedes - Benz , Nissan , BMW , Toyota , and others , all of whom have also won the right to test autonomous vehicles on public Californian roads .