Faraday Future FF91 prototype
Faraday Future has been selling like crazy lately. Only, not its cars.
The company announced last week that it is seeking a buyer for its original factory site in Las Vegas, where it announced at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show that it would build its future FF91 and FF81. It also announced then that it had sold its Gardena, California, headquarters in a lease-back deal with a real-estate company.
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After introducing the FF91 in Las Vegas in 2017, the company announced that it had bought the 900-acre parcel north of Las Vegas and had broken ground to build a new factory. But Faraday fell on hard times after Chinese authorities began digging into other companies owned by its founder in China and froze his assets.
NEVS 9-3 concept, 2017 CES Asia
By August, the company had abandoned the Las Vegas site and leased a former tire factory in central California to build its cars. Last year the company received a $2 billion lifeline from Hong Kong health insurance conglomerate Evergrande Health, which also holds a majority stake in National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS), the remnants of Saab.
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A year later, the company produced its first running prototype in California—just before a dispute with Evergrande brought the money, and production, to a halt again. The company laid off or furloughed three-quarters of its workforce, including its five founding executives who have automaking experience, and is seeking new investors.
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Citing statements by company spokesman John Schilling as well as real-estate sale documents, The Verge reported that the company sold its Southern California headquarters to real-estate investment group Atlas Capital, and is leasing back the space as it tries to raise money to restart FF91 production at its leased factory in Hanford, California.
In a separate statement at a company summit in China last Saturday, Evergrande announced that it will bring its first electric vehicle to market this coming June. It's unclear whether Evergrande will build a car under its own name, or if it could be referring to the FF91. NEVS already builds electric cars in China based on the last version of the Saab 9-3, which are known as some of the most popular ride-sharing service cars in China.