Electric car startup Faraday Future announced Tuesday that it’s planning to furlough more employees due to its worsening financial condition, which stems from an ongoing battle with a Chinese investor.
Just this summer, Faraday had apparently been on the cusp of launching pre-production of its high-powered FF 91 electric crossover, but the investor—Chinese real estate company Evergrande—has since reneged on an investment deal, according to the startup. Evergrande promised $2 billion to launch the production facilities, including an $800 million initial investment.
Faraday quickly burned through that cash, which precipitated the legal battle both sides now find themselves in, with Faraday trying to get clearance to seek funding from other investors to get back on its feet.
But while the company works to sort out the legal issues in court, it doesn’t expect a decision to come for another two-to-three months.
That means “we unfortunately must take further cost-reduction measures to deal with the current financial situation, which includes putting additional employees on furlough beginning this week,” the company said in a statement on Twitter. (The Verge, citing multiple sources, pegged the total number of furloughed employees at 250.)
“This was an extremely tough decision to make, and we recognize the emotional stress and financial strain this puts on people’s personal lives,” the statement said. Last month, a GoFundMe fundraiser was launched to pay for employee health care bills.
Ever the hopeful bunch, Faraday said its executive team has received interest from investors “around the world” and plans to continue on its long-shot bid to launch production of the FF 91. The company, very optimistically, says it hopes to resolve the funding issue within two-to-three months.