If you’ve been watching the automotive side of the stock market, you may have noticed that Faraday Future shares take a sharp dive over the course of this month, especially after the company announced a net loss of $142-million in the second quarter of 2022. There also appears to be instability in its board and as of August 26, the company announced that its cash balance had dropped to just $47.2-million, way down on the $276-million it reported at the end of Q1.
Even so, Faraday Future recently put out a press release announcing that it was still on track to begin production o its first (and also its flagship) model, the FF 91, which would be built at its new ieFactory in Hanford, California, currently under construction but approaching completion. According to Carsten Breitfeld, Global CEO of Faraday Future,
The ieFactory California team is producing high-quality production-intent vehicles for testing and validation, and I am very pleased to see the progress we have made readying the production area for SOP. I want to thank our team at Hanford and our outstanding contractors. Together we are building a truly world-class, luxury automotive plant.
Gallery: Faraday Future builds first production-intent FF 91 flagship EV
Speaking about the company’s first offering, Breitfeld explains that that
We noted earlier some challenges with supply chain issues which affected our FF 91 timeline. We have announced the successful raising of $52 million in convertible note commitments and continue financing discussions with multiple parties, but delays in our anticipated timing to close these potential transactions have also impacted our launch timing.
The FF 91 will be the first high-end, high-performance, luxury, intelligent EV and will reset customer expectations for both driver and passenger experience. When we launch in the fourth quarter, we will show consumers what the future of connected, intelligent mobility can be.
The FF 91 is a unique vehicle in terms of its body style, straddling the line between hatchbacks and crossovers, but it is certainly a big vehicle, measuring 5.25 meters (206.7 inches) in length. Its makers are targeting a 378-mile (603 km) EPA range thanks to a large 130 kWh battery pack, and a sprint time to sixty of under 2.4 seconds thanks to a combined output of 1,050 horsepower from its two electric motors, making it quicker to accelerate than a Tesla Model X Plaid.
Faraday Future’s history is definitely tumultuous, and the FF 91 was already supposed to be in production. Furthermore, the company said it needed more money to be able to start production, some $325-million in fresh capital to help it get through the year, and it hasn’t quite managed to secure that much yet, especially since it will need more money than before as it attempts to start production.
The company is currently building production-intent prototypes, but whether or not it will actually be able to begin manufacturing the FF 91 for customer deliveries this year (or at all) remains to be seen. Bankruptcy is still a possibility, even if the company really seems to have come very close to actually building an electric car.
