Dive Brief:
- Electric car manufacturer Faraday Future is reportedly looking for $1 billion in funding, a portion of which would go toward construction of its North Las Vegas production facility, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- The company's chief financial officer told Business Insider that Faraday is waiting on $500 million from Chinese billionaire and backer Jia Yueting but is also looking for other investors to reach the $1 billion mark.
- Even if the company secures funding, some vendors reportedly have said they will no longer extend credit to Faraday because of past-due accounts. In addition, some analysts said that if fundraising is unsuccessful, the company could be forced out of business.
Dive Insight:
Faraday has left many questions about its finances unanswered since it struck a deal with the state of Nevada to build its factory in North Las Vegas. Lawmakers were on the fence about giving up benefits to the company in return for it building out a section of Apex Industrial Park, so they put financial restrictions on the company.
State officials required Faraday to post a bond and establish a construction escrow account, an obligation that the company has allegedly failed to maintain, according to report earlier this year.
In return, the state promised Faraday approximately $215 million in tax breaks and $320 million in total incentives to build its factory in North Las Vegas. From the start, automobile manufacturing experts have said the company's production timeline, originally scheduled for 18 to 24 months, was very aggressive and would be "precedent-setting" if achieved.
After Faraday stopped work on the project in November, the last word from contractor AECOM, which has a $500 million contract for the project, was that it was still committed to the job while Faraday worked out its reported financial issues. This was despite reports that Faraday owed millions for work and services on the project.
Adding to the confusion, in February, Faraday announced that it had taken bids for a smaller, 650,000-square-foot factory to be constructed in advance of the $1 billion facility. The company said it would build the FF 91 model in the smaller facility in order to meet high demand.