Faraday Future has been working for years to get its first production electric car the ground. Now, it seems they’ve hit more issues, as the company announced that it had to lay off employees and cut salaries by 20 percent. Faraday announced the pay cuts following a dispute with their financial backer, Hui Ka Yan, who runs one of the most successful property businesses in China.
Financial Trouble
Faraday founder Jia Yueting has cut his own yearly salary to just $1 until the company can find new funding. Other executives have volunteered to take pay cuts beyond the original 20 percent blanket cut imposed on the other employees. According to an excerpt from their statement, as reported by Engadget:
“The Company is committed to monitoring its finances and will reevaluate [the decision to cut pay rates] with the goal of restoring salaries once financing is available…The Company is taking concrete steps, including funding opportunities with those who share our vision…No further information related to the financial state of FF including additional business operations will be communicated at this time.”
The rest of the statement outlines the pay cuts and states the company’s commitment to further progress. Although, the aim to seek funding opportunities with “those who share our vision” appears to be a swipe against Evergrande Health Industry Group Ltd., a unit of Hui’s real estate empire. Earlier this year, that company planned to buy Faraday’s assets, but Faraday contends it did not inject funds into the company. That news came despite the fact, Jia alleges, that Faraday fulfilled its obligations. Evergrande denies those claims, and Faraday is looking for funding elsewhere.
What about the car?
As for the car itself? The FF 91 is set to come standard with a 534 kW, dual-motor setup that makes 716 horsepower. However, a 3-motor setup is also in the works with over 1,000 horsepower. Battery Packs range from 86.7 kWh, on the low end. 108.3 kWh and 130 kWh on the top end.
0-60 MPH times look promising, with the highway sprint over with in under 3 seconds, 2.39 to be exact. Plus, a claimed range of over 300 miles on a single charge. It looks like Faraday is bringing the fight to Tesla, if they can continue to find funding.
We will keep our ears open for more news regarding Faraday Future and their… future. Stay tuned to TFLcar.com for the latest news, views & real-world reviews and, of course, more information on Faraday Future.
To hear about Faraday Future and a ton of other new electric cars that are in the pipeline, be sure to watch the video below. Roman talks with TFL’s EV expert, Anton Wahlman:
