E-car maker Faraday to use ex-Pirelli factory

HANFORD, Calif. — Struggling electric car startup Faraday & Future Inc. plans to use the former Pirelli Tire factory in Hanford for its first production vehicle, due in 2018, pivoting from an earlier plan to build a $1 billion site from scratch in Nevada.

Faraday has signed a lease on a 1 million-sq.-ft. structure in Hanford — about 210 miles northwest of Los Angeles — that was a Pirelli tire plant until January 2001.

Conversion of the site will begin in early 2018, in time for Faraday's first vehicle, the FF 91, to start production by year-end 2018.

"Our new production facility is the latest demonstration of our commitment to getting FF 91 on the road by the end of 2018," Dag Reckhorn, Faraday's vice president of global manufacturing, said in a statement. "Despite significant headwinds on the path ahead of us, we are laser-focused on that one key milestone."

The move comes after Faraday in July was forced to halt construction of a planned $1 billion facility in a barren industrial park north of Las Vegas. That project was put on hold after Faraday was unable to pay various vendors amid a severe cash crunch facing Faraday backer Jia Yueting and his Chinese company LeEco.

Faraday would not reveal the cost of the 10-year lease. However, Faraday last week secured a one-year, $14 million loan from Innovatus Capital Partners by putting up its headquarters as collateral. The loan is intended to help Faraday keep the lights on while it seeks new investors.

Faraday said the Hanford site will employ up to 1,300 people spread over three shifts. The original site in Nevada was to bring as many as 13,000 jobs over the duration of the project.

Pirelli Tire shut the Hanford plant in 2001, citing the facility's costs in comparison with other Pirelli factories worldwide.

The plant was opened originally in 1962 by Armstrong Rubber Co. Pirelli took it over in 1998.

David Undercoffler is a reporter with Automotive News, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business.

Additional reporting by Tire Business staff.