Faraday Future says it’s on track with US$1b automotive plant in Nevada
California-based electric car maker says its operations haven’t been disrupted by a cash shortage at its China-based backers, refuting a media report that construction on its car factory had been halted
Faraday Future, the LeEco Group venture that makes self-driving electric cars, said it’s poised to begin construction of the second phase of its Nevada factory in February 2017, refuting a report that work had been halted due to a cash crunch at its main investor.
The carmaker had already completed construction of the first phase of its factory in North Las Vegas in Nevada state, California-based Faraday Future said in a press statement issued from its China office.
The carmaker had halted construction of the US$1 billion plant after LeEco had missed several payments to its contractor AECOM, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a Faraday spokesman in saying construction would resume in 2017.
LeEco, which had expanded from its video streaming business into making smartphones, television screens, film production and autonomous cars, last week said it was running short on cash because it had expanded too aggressively.
In a letter to LeEco’s staff, the company’s founder and chief executive Jia Yueting said that the company was running out of cash as it was unable to raise external funds quickly enough to bankroll its expansion plans.
In his letter, Jia singled out the car unit as one of the firm’s most expensive ventures, and said that the company has already poured 10 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion) into early development.