Faraday Future has been in dire financial
straits for the past year or so, but late
last year reports began to circulate that
the electric-car startup had secured a new
source of financing.
Faraday has now confirmed a $2 billion investment.
It said finalization of the deal was delayed
for several months pending regulatory approval.
The deal, with Season Smart Limited, was actually
closed on November 30, 2017.
In exchange for its $2 billion investment,
Season Smart Limited received a 45-percent
stake in Faraday.
In April, The Verge reported that Season Smart
had also taken the place of Faraday as assignee
on the automaker's patents and trademarks
in the United States.
But the deal quickly grew more complicated,
which explains the delay.
Following its investment, Season Smart Limited
turned around and sold its stake to Evergrande
Healthy Investment Group Limited, a Hong Kong
Stock Exchange-listed company.
That transaction had to be investigated and
approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States.
"FF will continue to use the committed funds
to accomplish our top priority—finalizing
the development and delivering the first production
vehicle, FF 91 to both U.S. and China markets,"
the company, which refers to itself as "FF,"
said in a statement.
Faraday hopes to begin deliveries of its FF
91 electric SUV before the end of this year,
but that will be a tall order.
After scrapping plans for a brand-new factory
in North Las Vegas, Nevada, Faraday decided
to repurpose an old Pirelli tire factory in
Hanford, California.
The company only recently began construction
work at the new factory site.
Faraday also claims to have a manufacturing
facility in Guangzhou Nansha, in China's Guangdong
Province, but it's unclear what the status
of that factory is.
It will likely produce cars exclusively for
the Chinese market, at any rate.
