Faraday Future – an electric car startup based in Southern California – has set its sights on Tesla.
To catch up to its rival, Faraday plans to build a $1 billion factory. The company says Nevada, California, Georgia and Louisiana are all finalists for the factory.
But, analysts believe North Las Vegas and its APEX Industrial Park is the front-runner.
If true, that would immediately make Nevada a leading player in the electric car business.
And, it would be a major coupe for North Las Vegas and its mayor, John Lee.
But, who is Faraday? And why would they be interested in North Las Vegas?
According to Los Angeles Times reporter Jerry Hirsch, who has written about Faraday, the company is backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, who owns a media empire, a smart phone company and is behind the Chinese version of Uber. He likens himself to a Chinese Elon Musk, Hirsch said.
Jia is trying to be part of the solution for China’s pollution problem, Hirsch said.
“You cannot breathe in cities like Beijing and so they see this as a great mobility solution to get rid of polluting cars and replace them with electric vehicles,” Hirsch explained, “So this is sort of a national goal, and industrial goal and this guy wants to be a part of it.”
Faraday Future has brought in former engineers and developers from Tesla, General Motors and BMW to help create what they refer to as the ‘halo car’ that has been described as being an iPhone on wheels.
“The halo car, it’s the car to develop the brand like a Porsche 911 or even the Tesla model S,” Hirsch said.
John Voelcker is senior editor for High Gear Media. He said there are four different kinds of people who would buy the new Faraday Future car: The “early adopters,” the people who are the first not only on the block but in the city to have the newest gadget; the “environmentally aware,” the people who are trying to cut back their own carbon footprint; the “energy savers,” the people who are concerned that oil is coming from outside the United States and often from unfriendly regimes; the “money savers,” the people who understand how much more economical electric and alternative fuel cars really are despite the high cost up front.
Whoever buys the car now, Voelcker points out that car companies across the globe are working to cut emissions because of tough new regulations.
“All the carmakers are looking for ways to reduce the amount of carbon per mile that their vehicles admit when they’re driven, largely driven by regulation,” he said.
With carmakers being forced to change to alternative fuels, Nevada could be on the ground floor of a dramatic, world-wide change, according to Robert Lang of Brookings Mountain West.
“It would be a real reversal, because the state was over reliant on tourism. In this case, it would be a very bold move toward diversification,” Lang said. “The identity of the state now as an actual manufacturer of something that is consumed as a finished good.”
Lang believes there are plenty of reasons the company could choose the Las Vegas Valley over the areas that are being looked at, including a good airport, proximity to the Los Angeles supply chain, and the amount of land.
He also said that the Consumer Electronics Show that is held here every year could be the way to sell the car to the most tech-savvy people.
Lang doesn’t believe the financial problems the city of North Las Vegas has suffered over the past few years will have an impact on the decision.
“It’s the Valley, meaning the Valley writ large,” he said. “The financial condition of a single municipality within Las Vegas is non-determining for whether not somebody will or will not choose an industrial site.”
But before anything gets built by Faraday Future out at Apex, the Legislature will have to approve a package of incentives and tax breaks, much like it did for Tesla, in a special session.
Assemblywoman Dina Neal represents the area. She said she has not heard anything about a special session and as far as she is concerned, the deal will not be rubber stamped.
“I’m very conservative when it comes to this particular area,” she said. “I’m more of a devil’s advocate than I am the person who will just sign up and say ‘oh, that’s great! That’s wonderful!’ I want to see all of the picture.”
Neal believes when it comes to a deal for Faraday Future the devil, as always, is in the details, but she does understand that if everything is the way it appears, it will be “a great opportunity” and will “completely change” the city.
Hirsch also remains skeptical about the whole deal.
“I think the bigger issue here is that it sounds like the leadership of Nevada is thinking that this is going to be built and that it’s going to be a success and there’s nothing to say that’s going to happen,” he said.
Hirsch pointed to all the failed car companies of the past from Tucker to DeLorean and to the other successful carmakers that are jumping into the market.
“Just because this guy has made a lot of money in China, doesn’t mean he’s going to be able to compete against Audi and Mercedes and BMW and Ford and General Motors and Tesla,” Hirsch said. “So this idea that you’re going to have a fully formed auto factory out there, churning out hundreds of thousands vehicles is not certain at all.”
John Voelcker, staff writer, High Gear Media; Robert Lang, executive director, Brookings Mountain West; Jerry Hirsch, reporter, Los Angeles Times; Assemblywoman Dina Neil, D-North Las Vegas