LeEco’s not just messing around with this whole electric car deal. Back in April, the Chinese electronics company best known for its TVs and smartphone (once named LeTV, if that rings more bells) carted out its self-driving concept car during a big phone unveil in Beijing. The decidedly futuristic LeSEE (pronounced like “lessee”) features a foldaway steering wheel, exterior display on the front of the car and is capable of hitting top speeds of 130 MPH.
But the company’s auto-making dreams look to be more than just conceptual. LeEco is putting $1.8 billion of its money where its mouth is, announcing plans this week to up break ground on an electric car factory outside Hangzhou, China capable of producing 400,000 vehicles annually.
The plant will be part of LeEco’s larger planned “Eco Experience Park,” a $3 billion project that sounds like a veritable Disneyland of electric auto production, featuring an entertainment park in addition to all of the boring offices and car manufacturing facilities.
That announced Chinese plant comes in addition to an announced partnership with Faraday Future that will produce some of the EVs in the US-based company’s Las Vegas production facility, part of an on-going partnership between the two companies.