Faraday Future could pull out of Formula E to save cash

Faraday Future has had its share of troubles lately, to put it mildly. One thing is certain, the startup electric automaker doesn’t have oodles of dispensable cash to burn. It had to
abandon its original factory plans as a result (though it has
found a smaller, existing plant in California), and FF’s
Formula E team may be the next thing to go, according to
The Verge.

According to unnamed sources, FF is behind on payments to
Jay Penske, who runs FF’s team partner in Formula E,
Dragon Racing. A “high-level person inside Formula E” says Penske is “frantically” searching for a replacement partner. A source tells
The Verge that part of the problem stems from Faraday Future losing Marco Mattiacci and Nate Schroeder, who were involved with the motorsports endeavors at the company.

Dragon Racing’s commercial director, Kevin Smout, told
The Verge that its four-year contract with Faraday Future is “in good standing,” and added that the two groups “are discussing season 4 right now.” He added later, though, that, “Where there is smoke there is fire.”

Faraday Future echoed the statement about being “in good standing” with Dragon, and claimed, “There have been no business decisions made on whether to pull out.” The company says it has been testing for the next season.

Exiting Formula E would be a shame for Faraday Future for a couple of reasons. One is that the electric racing championship has recently begun to build some serious cachet, with a number of major automakers flocking to the series. Racing alongside the likes of Jaguar,
Audi,
BMW, Mercedes-Benz,
Porsche and
possibly even Maserati is something to be proud of – and a marketing win. Secondly, the race track is a great test lab for the development of electric powertrain technology, providing valuable knowledge for the FF91 and future Faraday Future products. Just look at the
value FF placed on participating in the
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

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