Jia Yueting fears clouds and blue sky no longer exist. With a penchant for electric vehicles, he wants to clear Chinese skies, and this is the way he believes it can be done. His wished for $1bn plant in Nevada lacks cash, and he has no engineer, so his hope for driverless taxis is
not too far advanced.
Trading in Silicon Valley as Faraday Future, Jia left his poor upbringing by working with technology. LeTV is his company set up in 2014 and it produces films, and he has LeTV’s gadgets made by the same people who make Apple’s. Now it is electric cars that are to be produced – Le Supercar with the designer formally being at Lotus China.
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Faraday Future is working with LeEco although there are rumours of disagreements between the two. Despite this, there has been an application for US trademarks as well as meetings with those responsible for testing of vehicles on public roads. Former plans are being downscaled with it seeming the first to be produced will be a luxury model and is due around 2017 and will be larger than Tesla. Cost is expected to be around $150,000.
Financial worries could be looming as trading of LeTV’s shares has been suspended and while this is not unheard of in China, it has concerned Dan Schwartz, Nevada’s treasurer who does not believe the money is there to build new cars. He now wants a performance bond to allow faith to be restored. As Jia’s personal funds fall, the future remains unclear.
Featured Photo: Steve Marcus/Reuters
