When we last heard from Faraday Future, they were embroiled in a Twitter war with the design contractor who created the sizzle reel for the company’s flagship prototype after being accused of not paying a $1.8 million bill.
This is following several other disputes over unpaid bills and news of construction stops on the billion dollar factory in the Nevada desert that Faraday had been building in an attempt to rival Tesla.
Well, the latest news is that Faraday Future has dramatically scaled down the scope of its efforts in order to get things moving in the right direction. The 3 million square foot factory? HybridCars.com is reporting that it will now be a 650,000-square-foot “mini” plant. Yes, they’re calling it mini.
In addition, instead of planning a series of 7 Faraday Future vehicles, the automaker has scaled it down to two – the first being its flagship FF 91, which is designed to be a low volume premium vehicle – low volume probably due to its $200,000+ price tag.
The second vehicle will be an all-electric SUV, likely designed to compete with the Tesla Model X.
According to Reuters, Faraday said it still plans to eventually construct the larger plant, but gave no timetable. They also claim a source “familiar with the company's thinking” said the smaller Nevada plant likely will be set up to build fewer than 10,000 cars a year and may not open until 2019.
The response to Faraday Future’s gear shifting has been mixed. Some suggest that Faraday is finally getting serious with its more modest approach, which will help it reach some of its lofty long-term goals. Others see it as writing on the wall: Tech Crunch says the company’s future is “still very much in doubt.”
I’m Anna Wells and this is IEN Now.