It was supposed to be a rival to Elon Musk's Tesla and even had a giant factory almost next door. However, Chinese firm Faraday Future has said it will move production of its planned luxury electric SUV to a new site, virtually scrapping a stalled $1 billion Las Vegas factory amid deepening financial woes of key investor Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting. Faraday is part of a network of young electric vehicle (EV) firms in China and the United States backed by Jia, who has said his company LeEco - that grew from a Netflix-like video website to a business empire spanning consumer electronics to cars within 13 years - is facing a severe shortage of cash after expanding too fast and in too many directions. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval looks at a model for a Faraday Future factory in North Las Vegas, Nev. Electric car maker Faraday Future said Monday, July 10, 2017 that it is deserting its plan to construct a $1 billion manufacturing plant in southern Nevada eight months after suspending the project and sinking at least $120 million into it. Faraday Future halted work on the project outside Las Vegas last November, at the time calling the stoppage a'temporary adjustment' that would not affect plans to begin production in 2018.

Faraday Future's FF 91 electric car is unveiled at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 3. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg) Faraday Future said it received 64,124 customer reservations shortly after unveiling its first car, the FF 91, this week at CES in Las Vegas. The initial strong response is welcome news as the Los Angeles-based automotive startup is in need of funds to get the battery-powered crossover into production. The spike in reservations came within 36 hours of Faraday Future's elaborate debut of the car on Tuesday, the company said in a statement. While "priority" reservations for the 1,050-horsepower FF 91 require a refundable $5,000 deposit, the company declined to specify how many of its prospective buyers were paying that amount. If all goes well, cars start shipping sometime in 2018.

Faraday Future unveiled the FF 91, its first production EV, at CES in Las Vegas Tuesday night. Unlike the fantasy racecar at last year's show, the FF 91 (pronounced "nine-one") actually moved and drove--drove itself, parked itself, and did 0-60 in 2.39 seconds live onstage (with a driver). Also unlike last year's car, Faraday has plans for the FF 91, including the production of 300 limited editions in March and mass production sometime in 2018. What was like last year's show was the raft of big promises. The FF 91 is "the first of a new species," said Nick Sampson, senior vice president of R&D and engineering.

Faraday Future took the wraps off a long-awaited production car this week at CES in Las Vegas just as circumstances grow ever more challenging for the Los Angeles-based automotive startup backed by Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting. The company showed off the FF 91 crossover-style car late Tuesday that it says combines supercar performance with ultra-luxury ride and comfort, has advanced web-enabled entertainment features for passengers and even parks itself in crowded lots using autonomous driving technology. It tested the latter feature before a live audience on Monday, as well as clocking its acceleration on stage against high-end luxury vehicles from Bentley, Ferrari and Tesla. "The FF 91 will usher in a new age of connected vehicles," Nick Sampson, the company's senior vice president of engineering and R&D and a former Tesla engineer, said at the unveiling that was webcast, noting that interested buyers can reserve one at the company's website with a $5,000 deposit. Jia, who is also founder and CEO of LeEco, the so-called Netflix of China, joined Sampson and other Faraday executives at the Las Vegas event to mark the FF 91's unveiling.

Electric car company Faraday Future unveiled "a new species" of car in Las Vegas on Tuesday night: an electric sedan that will have the acceleration of a Formula One car and the ability to learn and adapt to the driver. The FF 91, which the company says will go into production in 2018, would see Faraday Future compete with Tesla for the electric sports car market. The FF 91 has 1,050hp and can accelerate 0-60mph in 2.39 seconds, while the Tesla Model S P100D can reach 60mph in 2.5 seconds. The launch came ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which starts on Thursday. Nick Sampson, senior vice president at Faraday Future, said the car would feature a "driverless valet" system – where the driver can leave the car and order it to park itself – and two "aerodynamic antennas", which will enable the car to essentially act as a big wireless router.