Faraday Future Cuts Staff, Wages

Struggling California electric car startup Faraday Future Inc. says it will lay off an unspecified number of employees, and those who remain will take 20% pay cuts, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The move follows the collapse of a $2 billion funding deal last month. But it’s only the latest in a saga that began shortly after the company unveiled grandiose plans in late 2015 to build a $1 billion factory in Nevada and introduce the first of seven EVs by 2017.

The company unveiled a prototype of its ultra-high-performance, $180,000 FF 91 crossover vehicle (pictured) in January 2017. But then the company’s main financial backer, internet tycoon Jia Yueting, acknowledged he had run out of funds for the company and his own LeEco empire in China.

By July 2017, Faraday had scrapped plans for the $1 billion factory, slashed its product lineup to two models and launched a quest for new investors. The company and CEO Jia appeared to have found a savior three months ago in Hong Kong billionaire Hui Ka Yang’s Evergrande Health Industry Group Ltd.

Evergrande made an initial $800 million investment in the carmaker but balked on a commitment to contribute an additional $1.2 billion. Now Jia claims Evergrande has blocked other investors and is trying to steal Faraday’s product secrets. He wants to dissolve the deal.

Faraday still hopes to launch the 1,050-hp FF 91 in the first quarter of 2019. The company aims to produce the cars in a former tire factory in central California.