EV Startup Faraday Dials Back U.S. Production Plans

Electric car startup Faraday Future Inc. has slashed its vehicle portfolio from seven to two models and is dramatically shrinking the size of the factory it says it will construct outside Las Vegas, Reuters reports.

The downsizing was expected. Last November Leshi founder Jia Yueting conceded he had overextended his multiple businesses, creating a severe cash flow problem.

Faraday declared in December 2015 that it would open a 3 million sq-ft assembly plant in North Las Vegas this year, targeting initial annual capacity of 150,000 EVs. But the company halted preliminary site work on the $1 billion project in November.

Now city officials say the company plans to resume construction later this year—for a 650,000 sq-ft facility instead. Sources tell Reuters the smaller plant will have capacity for no more than 10,000 cars per year and may not begin operations until 2019.

Faraday’s new product plan consists of two models, according to Reuters. Topping the lineup will be the high-performance FF 91 crossover vehicle, which Faraday unveiled last month at CES in Las Vegas. The other, dubbed the FF 81, will be a smaller and less expensive crossover, the news service reports.

Most of the company’s cars will be produced in Zhejiang, China, sources tell Reuters. They say the province has agreed to subsidize construction of a plant there with capacity to make 450,000 EVs per year at least two years from now.