July 13 news, according to "USA Today" reported that the car startup Faraday Future's headquarters is like a busy hive, thousands of workers are busy building super powerful electric cars. It is not so much an electric car as it is on a highway. It is more like a private jet. However, the next few months will prove whether this company will create the next car milestone, or it will be another example of “empty promises but not promisesâ€.
Faraday Future has just announced plans to shelve its $1 billion investment in Nevada in the United States. At present, it is facing fierce competition from emerging and old car manufacturers in the electric vehicle sector. These are ominous signs. Three years ago, Faraday Future vowed to defeat Tesla and launch a 1000-horsepower "beast" that could sustain 640 kilometers on each charge.
Supported by Chinese technology billionaire Jia Yueting, Faraday Future began to recruit engineers from BMW, Tesla and other competitors. At the 2016 CES exhibition, a trendy but somewhat inexpressible racing prototype was launched. At the same time, the company announced that it will spend a billion dollars to build a huge factory in Las Vegas.
However, only a few days ago, Faraday Future announced plans to shelve the plant, instead looking for a factory in California or Nevada so that it could start manufacturing its own first car, the FF 91, which is planned to be launched in 2018. Peter Savagian, vice president of power at Faraday Future, said: "Our focus now is to create a single model and ensure its success."
Sawagian once worked for General Motors for 18 years. He recently admitted that the company is facing daunting challenges, in large part because Jia Yueting is optimistic that the imperial finances are in crisis. Last week, due to the failure to repay loans, Chinese regulators frozen Jia Yueting and his wife about 200 million U.S. dollars in assets. There are also reports that Faraday Future has missed the deadline for payment to suppliers. In addition, some top-notch executives have also resigned, including Marco Mattiacci, Ferrari’s former North American chief executive, and stepped down as chief brand officer just 7 months after joining Faraday Future. .
For Sawagian, the Faraday Future represents a bold proving ground without bureaucratic interference. On the other hand, joint ventures with General Motors can obtain sufficient funding and manpower support, and Sawagian needs to rely on the enthusiasm, credibility, and creativity of its employees to achieve technological breakthroughs and innovation. He said: "Scarcity is the focus." He explained that the small team of Faraday Future will even work overtime in the evenings and on the weekends to build the FF 91 prototype for preparing for the hardships in Colorado. Sawagian said: "This teaches us that we can push the battery to the limit and not let it overheat. This is very valuable, and we are very grateful that people gave up their free time for this."
Looking for $1 billion in funding
However, the freedom of time and the enthusiasm of young people do not create a global auto giant. Stefan Krause, who played for BMW and Deutsche Bank, joined in March and serves as the global chief financial officer of Faraday Future. Currently, Klaus is conducting a world tour to try to ensure that wealthy investors lead a $1 billion Series A round of financing. These people have been willing to bet on the future mobility vision of the Faraday Future.
Klaus said in a statement today: “How do we bring FF 91 to market by 2018? This is something we must look at. We need to reflect on all management decisions. Use this method to find out A method that allows us to operate quickly is the right decision.†Klaus has stayed in places like China, the Middle East and Europe. The goal is to raise $500 million in funds by the end of September and raise it by early 2018. To 1 billion U.S. dollars.
The money will be used to invest in the purchase of production equipment, regardless of where the final production site is located in the United States, and will continue to develop FF 91. The ideal situation is to set up factories in China. However, while FF 91 rivals Tesla's Model X SUV, the Faraday Future may not really focus on producing personally owned cars. Instead, they are fascinated by the subscription model and consumers may prefer to rent FF 91.
However, Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Cox Automotive, said that this rental model still has a long way to go. He said: "In many ways, far ahead is much worse than lagging behind, and I don't think that ownership of cars will soon disappear under any circumstances." For Brauer, the plight of Faraday Future is also in other China. Capital-backed auto companies have emerged and these companies are often hyped up, but they lack executive power.
Currently, this list also includes NiO (formerly NextEV), which was led by former Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior. The same is true for Lucid Motors, whose Air car wants to be a luxury sedan and has the speed of FF 91. Faraday Future has not revealed the cost of the high-end FF 91, but Lucid Air expects the price to reach $160,000.
Brauer said: "These Chinese companies are only inclined to make promises, but they are unable to honour their promises. Together with the brutal fact that the old car companies have a large dealer network, this is more than the start-up companies to seize more. More market share is much easier.†Brewer pointed out that numerous automobile manufacturers are developing electric vehicles, even though these vehicles currently account for only 1% of U.S. sales, including Volkswagen’s EV Golf, refurbished Nissan Leaf, and Chevrolet’s Bolt. BMW i3 and Porsche upcoming Mission E.
Of course, there is Tesla, which started delivery of the Model 3, the first mass-market sedan, at the end of July. Tesla based its high hopes on this model, aiming at an annual output of 500,000 vehicles. The great success of Tesla could also undermine the Faraday Future’s ambitions even if its car eventually enters the market. Brauer said: "In the next few months, we may see some great things from the Faraday Future, or all of this will eventually show the truth."
Really betting on the future of the company
Faraday Future is headquartered in the southern part of the industrial area of ​​Los Angeles and was previously the US headquarters of Nissan. Here, Faraday Future employees are designing virtual parts and systems. In this sense, it is no different from any other technology start-up company, including Google and Facebook.
But there are two special places, including a design studio with 3D and virtual reality gear, and a huge garage full of prototypes. These places show that computer-based design will eventually become a real product. It is worth noting that the company’s long-standing corporate invisibility model has caused questions, including whether or not its car is actually in existence.
The biggest feature of Faraday Future's design studio is a 6-meter-wide glass screen. Engineers can not only see computer-generated designs under full-size and high-resolution conditions, but also interact with them through virtual reality glasses. Steve Oates, a virtual reality expert at Faraday Future, said that such innovation greatly reduces the time for design concepts to transform real products. He said: "This technology not only allows us to quickly complete dozens of design iterations, but also helps us create a new car in 18 months, and the traditional approach may take three years."
Not far away, dozens of construction workers and manufacturers are busy debugging six test cars, one of which was used to participate in the Colorado car race. The assembly line includes batteries, power inverters, engines, and transmissions, some of which were designed by the supplier, while others were designed and manufactured by Faraday Future.
If CFO Klaus manages to raise funds, the car designed and manufactured by Faraday Future seems to be very suitable for the US market. In fact, the FF91 is a larger, faster luxury car than a more flexible electric car suitable for commuting. The car tested at the Faraday Future headquarters has a massage seat, a personal acoustic zone and soft lighting, and the FF 91 rear seat can even rival Rolls-Royce. That means you need to hire a driver.
FF 91 also integrates a large number of technologies, ranging from countless screens to fast WiFi connections. It also has the potential for fully automated driving, with radar, ultrasonic sensors, cameras, and a lidar disc that pops out of the front hood during unmanned operation. Initially, FF 91 will only use these devices for automatic parking.
Hong Bae, head of Faraday Future’s Advanced Driver Assistance System, said: “When you mention a company like Waymo (Google’s Driverless Vehicles Company, whose goal is to achieve fully automated drones), you need to understand that they have unlimited funds. And we're just start-ups, so we need more realistic strategies.†He added that Tesla claimed that his car could be unmanned throughout the United States by the end of the year. This goal appears to be “a little bit ambitious and may even be too After that, our focus is on safety."
However, although Tesla's Driver Assistance System for Drivers has caused much controversy, its project has made at least tremendous progress. Now, Bae and his colleagues only hope that the future of the company can be matched with the name of Faraday Future. What is still uncertain is whether the faithful employees of Faraday Future can get financial freedom in order to see their hard work for three years. (small)
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