Faraday Future delays launch of its first electric car

Faraday Future is still delaying the launch of its electric car. Will the FF91 see the light of day? Nothing less confident.

In February, Faraday Future unveiled a consumer version of its FF91 electric SUV at its plant in California. At the time, the manufacturer announced that production would begin in the first quarter of 2022. Today, according to Bloomberg, the company warned investors that it is still delaying production and will need additional funds for a commercial launch.

Faraday Future delays the launch of its electric car again

Apparently, the company has moved the first deliveries of its FF91 to “the third or fourth quarter of 2022.” And since the third quarter has already begun, it is now highly likely that it will be heading towards the end of the third quarter, or even the fourth quarter if the Faraday Future timeline is followed. The company really needs to find the money it needs to run its operations: it has also told investors that it needs more money to launch FF91 and is aiming to raise around $325 million to fund its operations through December 31, 2022.

Faraday Future was founded in 2014 and the company planned to launch its first electric car in 2018. It has had to delay its launch several times in recent years and has run into financial difficulties. The company nearly ran out of cash in 2017 until Season Smart, which was later acquired by Chinese giant Evergrande, decided to invest $2 billion. Faraday Future quickly used the 800 million originally invested by Season Smart and spent 2018 managing a difficult relationship with its main investor.

Will the FF91 see the light of day? Nothing is less certain

Although the company agreed a restructuring plan with Evergrande at the end of 2018, it has not been able to save enough money to bring back employees who put them on unpaid leave. The company also had to abandon the Las Vegas plant project and put up for sale a 365-hectare site for $40 million. Faraday Future went public through a merger with a dormant company in 2021, but that apparently wasn’t enough to solve its financial problems.

The delay comes amid a dispute between the company and founder Jia Yuting, who stepped down as CEO in 2019 as part of a restructuring deal, Bloomberg reports. A group of shareholders linked to Jia Yuting appears to be offering Faraday Future “at least $100 million”in exchange for firing a board member. The company reportedly declined, with the group accusing it of not accepting the offer “with the seriousness, urgency and impartiality it deserves”, given Faraday Future’s financial situation.