Faraday Future

Faraday Future
Industry Automotive
Founded 2014 (2014)
Headquarters Gardena, California
Key people
  • Nick Sampson (Senior Vice President of R&D and Engineering)
  • Dag Reckhorn (Vice President of Global Manufacturing)
  • Alan Cherry (Vice President of Human Resources)
  • Tom Wessner (Vice President of Supply Chain)
  • Richard Kim (Head of Design)
Number of employees
 1000[1]
Website www.faradayfuture.com

Faraday Future is a Chinese-backed,[2][3][4] American start-up technology company focused on the development of intelligent electric vehicles. Faraday Future was established in 2014 and is headquartered in Gardena, California. Since its inception in 2014, the company grew to 1000 employees.[5] Their financial partners are LeEco, a Chinese consumer electronics company, led by Jia Yueting.

Faraday Future is named for one of the founding principles of electric motor technology known as Faraday's law of induction.[6] Faraday's Law is in turn named after English scientist Michael Faraday who discovered electromagnetic induction.

The company debuted its first concept vehicle, the single-seat FFZERO1, at the January 2016 Consumer Electronics Show but did not announce production schedules.[7]

Planned location

Faraday Future announced in November 2015 that it would invest up to $1 billion into its first manufacturing facility. The American states of California, Georgia, Louisiana, and Nevada were all being considered as locations for the facility.[8]

In December 2015, Faraday Future settled on a location in North Las Vegas for its manufacturing site.[9] Construction began in April 2016 with additional required infrastructure which Nevada has formally agreed to build remains on hold pending a verification of Faraday Future that it is financially sound and fully able to raise enough money to finance the entire project.[10]

On May 24, 2016, The City of Vallejo, California announced there will be a May 31, 2016 Special City Council vote on an exclusive negotiating agreement. This represents the first formal step to bringing Faraday Future to Mare Island. Following Karma Automotive's new plant in Moreno Valley,[11] the project would be the second new automobile manufacturing facility to be built from the ground up in California in the last few years. It would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment to the local economy.[12] On May 31, 2016, the City Council unanimously agreed on entering the 6-month agreement.[13][14]

Planned products

Faraday Future expects to launch its first fully electric vehicle in 2017, with the possibility of producing a larger range of vehicles over time.[15][16] The company has implied plans to explore other aspects of the automotive and technology industries, such as experiential ownership and usage models, in-vehicle content, and autonomous driving.[17][18][19]

In July 2015, Motor Trend ran an article that provided a few specifications for Faraday Future’s proposed electric vehicle: it will have 15 percent higher specific energy than a Tesla Model S, it utilizes a multi cell solution where both individual cells and groups of cells can be replaced, and it will have a modular design for improved mass-production methods.[20]

At the November 2015 LA Auto Show, Head of Design Richard Kim discussed his interest in creating a vehicle that featured internet access, in-car entertainment, aromatherapy technology, and ergonomic interior design.[21]

On January 4, 2016 at the US Consumer Electronics Show, they revealed their 1,000 hp (750 kW), 200 mph (320 km/h), single seat race-car concept.[22] It has a style similar to the 1960s Batmobile. They showed a video demonstrating how their basic design would allow for many body styles and battery configurations. No specific details were given for these potential car designs other than the race-car concept. Following the reveal, their social media pages were hit with mostly negative comments. Many stated that they were expecting details on an affordable production car that would compete with the Tesla Model 3 or Nissan Leaf. They expressed disappointment that the only design shown was of a high end concept race-car that would never actually be produced, instead of a production car for the everyday driver.

Faraday Future plans to begin testing self-driving vehicles on California roads after winning approval from California on June 17, 2016.[23]

Commercial and marketing plans

The company said that some of Faraday Future’s revenue stream is expected to come from alternative, ancillary sources, the anticipated revenue structure being closer to that of the smartphone than to that of standard automobile sales.[24]

In November 2015, Faraday Future announced that they would attend CES International (the Consumer Electronics Show) in January 2016.[25][26]

Funding Controversy

Faraday has been the subject of speculation voiced by ex-employees and government officials who have expressed doubts about the company's finances.[27][28] Specifically, Faraday has failed to fund even a few relatively small escrow accounts which has led to some analysts doubting the company's financial solidity and overall investment strategy.[29] The outlook is not optimistic in the highly competitive automobile space, especially given that it is widely believed to be a "Tesla Graveyard" [30]

“It’s a matter of time before problems emerge,” said Wang Zheng, the Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management, which oversees a portfolio of about $300 million. It is avoiding LeEco shares, in part because of concerns over its financing strategy. “The company is capital strapped,” said Dai Ming, a money manager at Hengsheng Asset Management in Shanghai.[31] FF suspended work on the Nevada site in November 2016 until the first $300m of a recent $600m funding comes through.[32][33]

Motorsport

Faraday Future will join the FIA Formula E Championship for electric-powered cars through a collaboration with the existing Dragon Racing team, also American, for the series' third season, beginning in October 2016.[34] Specifications for the car were released in November 2016.[35]

Leadership and staff

Faraday Future is currently led by an executive team with 5 members:

In addition to the named executives, Faraday Future has reported that it has built a team from former Tesla,[37] GM, Ferrari, Lamborghini, BMW, Audi, Apple, SpaceX, and Hulu employees.[38] It is still unclear who the CEO of Faraday Future is.[36][39]

References

  1. ↑ Stocksdale, Joel (2016-09-20). "Faraday Future shows more legitimacy with 1,000th US employee". Autoblog. US. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  2. ↑ Buhr, Sarah. "Mysterious Tesla Rival Faraday Future Backed By Netflix Of China, LeTV". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  3. ↑ "Faraday Future's business partner wants to dominate Silicon Valley". Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  4. ↑ "China fuels electric car startups like Atieva and Faraday Future to chase Tesla". 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  5. ↑ Tilley, Aaron (2016-01-05). "Faraday Future: We're Going To Move A Lot Faster Than Tesla". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  6. ↑ "Faraday Future Talks AI, Multi-Seat EVs in Exclusive Interview". Shear Comfort Auto Blog. 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  7. ↑ "Forget Faraday Future's Crazy Concept Car. It Has Bigger Plans". WIRED. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  8. ↑ Reisinger, Don (2015-11-05). "A Mysterious Electric Carmaker has its Sights on Tesla". Fortune. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  9. ↑ Ramsey, Mike (2015-12-09). "Faraday Future Picks Nevada Site for $1 Billion Electric-Car Investment". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  10. ↑ Ramsey, Mike (2016-04-13). "Electric Car Maker Faraday Breaks Ground in Nevada Startup aided by promise of state incentives moving ahead on first vehicle". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  11. ↑ "Karma comes around again: California's newest car factory aims to rival Tesla". 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  12. ↑ "City of Vallejo schedules May 31 vote on Agreement with Faraday Future for exclusive negotiations on 153 Acers". 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  13. ↑ Times, Los Angeles. "Tesla rival Faraday gets one step closer to building electric cars in Vallejo". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  14. ↑ "Weekly Electromobility News – Electromobility News". www.emvalley.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  15. ↑ "Faraday Future Electric Car Company Founders Interview". DuJour. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  16. ↑ Hirsch, Jerry; Masunaga, Samantha (2015-11-05). "Mysterious electric car start-up in Gardena has ties to Chinese multibillionaire". LA Times. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  17. ↑ Barnes, Bethany; Chereb, Sandra (2015-11-19). "Faraday to reveal its electric car plans at CES in January". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  18. ↑ Ramsey, Jonathon (2015-12-01). "More secrets of EV manufacturer Faraday Future revealed". Autoblog. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  19. ↑ Stead, Rob (2016-04-04). "Meet Dr Bibhrajit Halder of Faraday Future". AutoSens. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  20. ↑ Pleskot, Kelly (2015-11-06). "New Electric Car Company Emerges: Faraday Future". Motor Trend. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  21. ↑ Branman, Miles (2015-11-30). "Faraday Future's 2017 Tesla Model S rival with a 300+ mile range will charge into CES 2016". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  22. ↑ "Glimpse Into the Future – FFZERO1 Concept". 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  23. ↑ Lienert, Paul (2016-06-21). "Faraday Future to build self-driving vehicles and build and sell electric vehicles". Yahoo Tech. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  24. ↑ Moss, Darren (2016-01-07). "Faraday Future reveals FFZERO1 concept at CES". Autocar. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  25. ↑ Thompson, Cadie (2015-11-19). "Ultra-secretive startup Faraday Future is getting ready to reveal its car". Tech Insider. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  26. ↑ Nofuente, Kyle (2015-11-21). "Super Mysterious Carmaker Faraday Future Plans To Come Out Of Stealth Mode At CES 2016". Tech Times. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  27. ↑ "Nevada treasurer raises questions about Faraday Future | AOL Corporate". corp.aol.com. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  28. ↑ King, Danny. "Nevada treasurer raises questions about Faraday Future". Autoblog. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  29. ↑ Wed, Published; 20, Apr; Miller, 2016 | Greg; Analyst, Senior (2016-04-20). "Faraday Future: Is This Car Company Legit?". Wall Street Daily. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  30. ↑ Lambert, Fred (2016-05-16). "Tesla's James Chen joins competitor Faraday Future". Electrek. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  31. ↑ "Faraday Future's Nevada Factory Hits Speed Bump". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  32. ↑ Lambert, Fred (2016-11-15). "Faraday Future delays EV factory construction while investors secured $600 million in financing". Electrek. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  33. ↑ "China's Leshi Holdings secures $600 million in support". Reuters. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  34. ↑ "Ten teams entered for the 2016-17 FIA Formula E Championship". FIA Formula E Championship. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
  35. ↑ Lambert, Fred (2016-11-11). "Faraday Future releases specs for Formula E electric race car: ~$350k, 0-62mph in 2.9s, top speed of 150mph". Electrek. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  36. 1 2 "About". www.faradayfuture.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  37. ↑ Lambert, Fred (2016-08-31). "Tesla loses 'Head of Data Science' to upstart competitor Faraday Future". Electrek. US. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  38. ↑ Warren, Tamara (2015-11-19). "Exclusive: Inside Faraday Future, the secretive car company chasing Tesla". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  39. ↑ Lambert, Fred. "Tesla's biggest competition for talent might not be Apple but Faraday Future, an LeTV-backed startup in Los Angeles". Electrek. Retrieved 2016-01-05.

External links

Official website

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