Faraday Future may abandon its Formula E racing efforts to save precious funds as the electric-car startup company scales back many of its ambitious plans.
The FIA Formula E series, which will receive an influx of new competitors in 2019, has become a de facto arena for automakers to test battery technology and gain valuable experience in electric-car engineering.
Faraday Future entered the motorsport series last summer and has competed in Formula E’s third season, which ended last month with races in New York City and Montreal.
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Cash-strapped Faraday Future’s tenure in the growing race series may be short-lived as many of the electric-car company’s plans reportedly crumble.
The Verge reports that Dragon Racing, Faraday Future’s race-team partner, is “frantically” searching for a new car-company partner despite Faraday having signed a four-year contract with Dragon.
A spokesperson for Dragon, which is run by Jay Penske, said both Faraday Future and the racing team are in “good standing,” and discussions surrounding season four are underway.
2016/2017 Formula E Hong Kong ePrix
However, he also added fuel to the recent reports in a follow-up email that read, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.”
Anonymous sources claim Faraday Future is now behind on its payments to Penske’s racing team, which corresponds with other reports suggesting the electric-car company hasn’t paid some of its suppliers.
Adding to Faraday Future’s Formula E woes is the departure of Marco Mattiacci, who previously ran Ferrari’s Formula One team and had called the Formula E team his “baby.”
READ THIS: Faraday Future backer LeEco is running out of cash, CEO admits
Faraday Future’s head of motorsports, Nate Schroeder, also confirmed that he had left the venture.
At the top of the company’s financial burdens is LeEco, Faraday Future’s Chinese backer.
LeEco publicly confirmed many weeks ago that it is running out of money, which means Faraday Future has fewer funds to tap for things such as Formula E.
Faraday Future FF 91
The electric-car company most recently secured a small bridge loan to keep its operations humming from Innovatus Capital Partners.
Faraday Future listed its California-based headquarters as collateral to secure $14 million as it works to raise far larger sums of cash to sustain its reduced operations.
CHECK OUT: Faraday Future gets $14 million; factory moved to CA from Vegas
The electric-car company hopes to speed up development of its FF 91 electric car and bring it to market sometime next year.
It most recently purchased a turnkey assembly plant and put plans for its Nevada-based factory on hold indefinitely to save additional funds.
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