EV startup Faraday Future announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2022 and one particular number stands out—but not in a good way.
The California-based firm said it has 401 preorders for its FF 91 ultra-luxury EV. The reservations are for the FF 91 Futurist Alliance Edition, which requires a $5,000 deposit and the FF 91 Futurist, which can be reserved for $1,500. The vehicles will initially be available for sale to customers in the United States and China, where the deposits are RMB 50,000 and RMB 20,000, respectively.
The number of reservations is really low considering that we're not talking about firm orders. These preorders are fully refundable and non-binding, so Faraday Future doesn't have a guarantee that it will sell 401 vehicles. The disclosure also reveals how misleading the company's previous claim of having 14,000 reservations really was.
For comparison purposes, Lucid Group has approximately 30,000 reservations for its Air electric luxury sedan, while Rivian has some 90,000 preorders for its R1S and R1T EVs.
Gallery: Faraday Future builds first production-intent FF 91 flagship EV
It's been five years since Faraday Future unveiled its first EV, the FF 91, and production is yet to begin. Still, the company's Q1 2022 report maintains the previous production start timeline in the third quarter of 2022. It remains to be seen whether that will happen.
In February, Faraday announced it had signed a contract manufacturing agreement with South Korea's Myoung Shin to build its second production EV, the FF 81. The start of production is expected in 2024.
"We continued to make progress during the first quarter at our Hanford manufacturing plant, where mechanical systems and equipment installation is underway in preparation for FF 91 production. The signing of our manufacturing agreement with Myoung Shin has put our high-volume program for FF 81 production on track with an attractive, capital-efficient strategy in an ideal global manufacturing location."
Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, Global CEO of Faraday Future
Faraday Future's CEO also noted that the company secured its dealer license from the State of California in Q1 2022, which will allow it to sell cars online nationally.
As for the Q1 2022 financial results, Faraday Future reported an operating loss of approximately $149 million, compared to approximately $19 million in Q1 2021. The company explains the increase by more costly FF 91-related engineering, design, and testing services, as well as a significant rise in headcount and employee-related expenses. As a result, Q1 2022 net loss also increased to approximately $153 million (versus $76 million in Q1 2021).
Faraday Future's total assets on March 31, 2022, were approximately $706 million, including $276 million of cash, while total liabilities were approximately $271 million.
