Faraday Future Q4 and full 2022 results: FF 91 SOP this month pending millions in funding
Could we actually see tenacious EV startup Faraday Future begin production of its long-promised flagship EV, the FF 91 Futurist? According to Faraday Future’s recent Q4 and full 2022 financial report, production could begin as early as this month. However, much of the startup’s outlook and goals for 2023 are heavily contingent on the receipt of tens of millions in funding previously promised. Here’s the latest.
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. ($FFIE) is a California-based EV startup founded all the way back in 2014. During its rollercoaster ride of financial and internal ups and downs, its never-say-die tenure in the industry has served as both a tale of caution and one of perseverance.
The EV startup’s flagship EV, called the FF 91 Futurist originally debuted in 2017, but by the end of the year, the company’s CFO and CTO left to form their own company down the street, called Canoo – an EV startup with its own list of woes in search of reaching the often insurmountable take of scaled vehicle production.
Financial ups and downs continued to plague the company, along with other controversies involving former employees, layoffs, and loans. Eventually, company founder YT Jia stepped down as CEO in 2019 after filing for bankruptcy.
In February of 2022, we got a glimpse of the production-intent FF91 Futurist in action, and by August, the startup was expecting deliveries by year’s end. However, an investor dispute quickly sent Faraday Future’s production targets once again off the rails… at least briefly. By September, the dispute was settled, and FF was touting $100 million in additional funding to approach start of production.
During Q4 of 2022, Faraday Future announced the acquisition of $135 million of additional capital was in the works, resulting in yet another delay of FF 91 Futurist production to March of 2023. According to this its recently released Q4 and 2022 financial results, Faraday Future has acquired a huge chunk of those promised funds. However, it will require millions more delivered for it to hit its slippery target of FF 91 production in California.
Faraday Future can hit SOP if funds promised in Q4 arrive
According to Faraday Future’s Q4 and 2022 results, its FF ieFactory California remains on track to begin FF 91 Futurist production on March 30, “subject to the timely receipt of the previously announced and committed $135.0 million.”
The startup states that those financial commitments are also vital to it hitting its delivery target to customers in late April – that and its suppliers hitting their supply chain requirements for the builds. Faraday Future states $111.6 million of the funds committed have been received since the end of Q4 2022, but another $38.4-$58.4 in incremental funds are still on the way.
Operating expenses were $451 million for 2022 compared to $354.1 million a year prior, but Q4 was more encouraging at $83.9 million spent compared to $121.4 million in 2021. The startup cites increases in engineering, design, and testing as the reason for the added expenses in 2022.
Still, net losses were up to $552.1 compared to $516.5 in 2021 and also up for Q4 2022 ($153.9 million) compared to just over $84 million the year before. Faraday Future states its cash and restricted cash was down to a bleak $18.5 million at the end of Q4 2022, but was back up to $37.5 million (including $2.1 in restricted cash) as of March 2, 2023.
Newly appointed global CEO Xuefeng “XF” Chen spoke to company’s current situation in (hopefully) bringing the FF 91 Futurist to production:
We have come a long way towards making the FF 91 Futurist available to our customers, and I am proud of the dedication and commitment shown by our team to achieve all major milestones. Securing the necessary funding commitments to begin production and delivery of this vehicle is a major game changer for us. Going forward, we expect to utilize all available resources in order to deliver our car to our enthusiastic customers.
Like it has several times before, Faraday Future could once again continue forward by the mere skin of its teeth and perhaps truly hit a start of production, but we have no reason to hold our breath at this point and nor should you.
All eyes will be on the March 30 SOP target to see if Faraday Future can get its hands on the funding it has been promised. More to come.
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Environment
Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec
JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.
JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.
The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.
In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.
In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.
The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:
JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now
JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.
When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:
For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.
Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).
The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.
Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.
Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.
What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?
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This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.
The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):
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Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.
U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.
Here are Friday’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
- Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
- RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
- Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.
The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.
A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.
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