Faraday Future had already broken ground on a sprawling $1 billion factory in North Las Vegas when a multi-million dollar late fee forced contractors to go on hiatus last November. Then, at CES 2017, the company announced the resumption of construction as the city’s mayor waved to the crowd — a physical manifestation of goodwill towards the company’s new promises.
What they did not say, however, was that the factory would be a fraction of the size as originally claimed, existing as a smaller-scale starter plant. Faraday is the automotive equivalent of Monty Python’s Black Knight. It continues to suffer horrendous blows that cripple its operational ability, all the while telling the world, “Tis but a scratch.”
Las Vegas Now 8 News quoted North Las Vegas city manager Dr. Qiong Lui as saying, “It’s a 650,000 square foot mini-plant that’s going to be complete about August, end of August.”
While ludicrously ambitious, that’s still nowhere near the 3 million-square-foot “mega factory” Faraday Future originally promised.
The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development says it will continue building roads, sewers, and water lines to the Apex Industrial Park, regardless of the company’s involvement. “We’re not really hedging bets, we’re looking for a method to put the infrastructure in at Apex, because it’s critical for more than just Faraday, in the event that Faraday doesn’t move forward,” said Steve Hill, director of economic development.
Faraday Future continues to claim that its first model — the FF 91 — will be on the market in 2018.
(Update 2/6/2016) A Faraday Future spokesperson reached out to us after this piece was published to explain that “as part of a long-term development plan to bring manufacturing facilities online at a steady pace, Faraday Future is moving forward with a multi-stage manufacturing strategy at APEX North Las Vegas.”
According to Faraday, the smaller factory is only the first phase of a multi-stage approach intended to bring the FF 91 swiftly to market.
“We expect planning, engineering, and construction of this Stage 1 Manufacturing Project to proceed rapidly so that we can bring our flagship vehicle, the FF 91, to production more quickly. At a later date, this Stage 1 Manufacturing Project will be integrated into the Stage 2 Manufacturing Project, which is scheduled to start construction later this year,” the spokesperson continued. “Faraday Future remains committed to the State of Nevada and our $1B investment in the region over the next few years.”
[Image: Faraday Future]
Photo caption: “Thank you for stopping!”
Actually she’s not in front of the vehicle. Check the shadows. This photo tricks you into thinking that this is a Big, Giant vehicle.
I was going to say judging by the pic, the car is enormous and won’t fit in any normal sized garage. Or the girl in the picture is the shortest human on the planet.
The perspective trick is amusing, not sure why it needs to look as large as a Suburban.
*Really* not sure what this photo is supposed to be conveying at all. Looks like she’s having a face-off with her own car. Just standing there. Staring at it. Not looking particularly pleased.
“I cannot believe I just bought this execrable POS and now it just left me stranded here with the birds circling, waiting for me to drop”
What is this? A factory for ANTS?
I still don’t think that they’ll build anything, but North LV is right about building out the infrastructure…I’m assuming that someone else will go in there eventually.
Well, great, now I can still get an electric Renault Espace.
Tesla is doing the same thing. The Giga-factory is being built in stages.
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You are comparing a real, $40B company to a pipe dream.
edit: crack pipe dream.
@VoGo – How did you determine that Tesla is a $40 Billion company? Do you have a source? Just curious.
Just google Tesla Market Cap. Or, go to your favorite investment site and look for the market cap of TSLA.
That design looks state-of-the-art for 1994. The Pontiac Stinger wasn’t as puffy.
$150K and that’s what the company is pinning its hopes on.
At $200k per vehicle, FF is hardly relevant as a “mass” produced vehicle… If they ever produce it.
Seven months to build a 14-acre plant – better get crackin’!
The designers need to take Demolition Man off of repeat.
It’s appropo that they’re now allegedly going to build this 1/5th scale model factory in a desert as, it too, even dramatically downsized, will be nothing but a mirage.
Actually, 1/2.15 scale. Area scales with the ratio squared, remember?