Faraday Future pushes back EV deliveries, looking for cash

Nu Ride

14/04/2023 24:52

SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle
(EV) startup Faraday Future Intelligent Electric  FFIE.O  on
Thursday pushed back initial deliveries of its flagship FF 91
Futurist by another two months, saying they would depend on
"substantial additional financing".
    The Los Angeles-based company said it was down to about $30
million in cash as of Tuesday and deliveries of the
sport-utility vehicle, its first production model, would depend
on "sufficient" funding, receiving parts in time from suppliers,
as well as completing necessary crash tests.
    Still, the company said its first vehicle would come off the
production line on Friday, and shares rose 13% to $0.31. They
hit a high of $1.32 in February after a funding announcement and
had fallen 80% since then.
    Faraday Future on Thursday said it was in discussions with
additional potential investors to secure the funding. 
    Many EV startups, including Nikola  NKLA.O  and Lordstown
Motors  RIDE.O , are still coming to grips with supply-chain
bottlenecks sparked by the pandemic and have been scrambling for
funds to continue production as a weaker economic outlook has
dented consumer sentiment. 
    Faraday Future has been struggling with a cash crunch and a
board reshuffle following a governance dispute with one of its
largest shareholders, FF Top Holding. Last November, Faraday
Future raised doubts about its ability to continue as a "going
concern".
    But the company managed to secure enough funds in February
to start much-delayed production of the FF 91 Futurist last
month. 
    Deliveries, originally slated to start in late 2022, had
been pushed back to the end of April. On Thursday, the company
said certain customers, who paid for the vehicle in full in May
would be able to start receiving FF 91's from the end of June.
    The further delay would "help to mitigate any production
capacity shortfalls versus anticipated market demand," the
company said, adding its suppliers had been unable to meet its
earlier timeline. 

 (Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
 ((abhirup.roy@thomsonreuters.com; +1 415 941 8665;
@abhiruproy30;))