Photo: Faraday Future
Faraday Future's ambitions of becoming an important name in the EV market don't look too promising at the moment, despite the company becoming more and more active lately and announcing the unveiling of its first product.
The first Faraday Future model is expected to break cover at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January 2017. The Chinese-American company managed to keep most details about the car secret, but judging by the little that we do know, it has all the chances of being a success in every market on the globe.
That's because unlike Lucid Motors (the EV company formerly known as Atieva), FF opted for a crossover as its lead product, and we all know how well those are selling. We might not have such a big idea on how the public feels about them in electric flavor, but that's only because there's just one such SUV currently available. But Tesla is struggling to meet demand for the X, so we guess the reception is positive.
However, the focus has now shifted from what will the Faraday Future crossover look like to will it ever be built? That's because the company backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting is having troubles of the financial kind. Or, if it doesn't, then at least it's reluctant to pay its bills.
Automotive News showed that Faraday Future is behind close to $60 million on the payments it needs to make to AECOM, the construction company working on the $1 billion, three-million-square-foot plant that the EV maker is building in Nevada.
AECOM issued a letter to Faraday Future on October 10 giving the company ten days to cover the escrow account that was due in September worth $21 million, or risk having work suspended on the plant. The two companies released a joint statement saying that “the business relationship between Faraday Future and AECOM is strong and we remain committed to building our factory of the future in North Las Vegas.”
Whatever lies behind these issues, it sure doesn't bode well for a company with zero history and an unknown cash availability (Faraday Future does not release its finances). A lot will hang on what happens in January, even though a scenario where the car is launched to great acclaim but never actually gets built isn't so far fetched anymore.
That's because unlike Lucid Motors (the EV company formerly known as Atieva), FF opted for a crossover as its lead product, and we all know how well those are selling. We might not have such a big idea on how the public feels about them in electric flavor, but that's only because there's just one such SUV currently available. But Tesla is struggling to meet demand for the X, so we guess the reception is positive.
However, the focus has now shifted from what will the Faraday Future crossover look like to will it ever be built? That's because the company backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting is having troubles of the financial kind. Or, if it doesn't, then at least it's reluctant to pay its bills.
Automotive News showed that Faraday Future is behind close to $60 million on the payments it needs to make to AECOM, the construction company working on the $1 billion, three-million-square-foot plant that the EV maker is building in Nevada.
AECOM issued a letter to Faraday Future on October 10 giving the company ten days to cover the escrow account that was due in September worth $21 million, or risk having work suspended on the plant. The two companies released a joint statement saying that “the business relationship between Faraday Future and AECOM is strong and we remain committed to building our factory of the future in North Las Vegas.”
Whatever lies behind these issues, it sure doesn't bode well for a company with zero history and an unknown cash availability (Faraday Future does not release its finances). A lot will hang on what happens in January, even though a scenario where the car is launched to great acclaim but never actually gets built isn't so far fetched anymore.
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