April 30,2025
At the beginning of a full fledged trade war with China, the Faraday Future car company looks to turn tariff pressure into a strategic opportunity, they say hopefully.
In recent days, Faraday Future global President Jerry Wang met with Eric Trump, the president’s son, to lobby him in Washington to consider a “US-China EV bridge “as they shape automotive policy.
Faraday Future hopes to roll off a lower cost electric vehicle called the “Super One”, expected to debut in late June with pre-orders to follow, says the company website. The car would be assembled in Hanford, the LA company’s only US manufacturing plant. The parts are shipped in from China now in the middle of a trade war with more than 100% tariffs in place.
It isn’t clear how the company would be able to launch this new model without an exemption from the Trump administration. Bringing in Eric to the conversation may be part of that strategy. Wang drove an FF91 car to Washington to lobby the Trump administration.
Another part of the strategy appears to be to gather support from California politicians, including Hanford’s Mayor Lou Martinez and Anthony Rendon, the former speaker of the House for the state of California who both commented at an April 28 LA ceremony.
The company statement says” Lou Martinez, Current Mayor of Hanford, CA stated: “I want to personally congratulate YT Jia in his new role as Co-CEO of FF and wish him and the Company much success. The ramp up of the FX production is especially exciting, and Hanford remains committed to partnering with Faraday Future to bring connected AI-rich vehicles to the world. We look forward to the day when FX vehicles are delivered from Hanford.”
Wikipedia points out that Jia Yueting (YT) is a Chinese businessman who is the founder of Leshi Holding Group and the former CEO of Faraday Future.
Jia has been involved in several financial controversies related to his companies. In October 14, 2019, he filed for bankruptcy with a personal debt of over USD $3.6 billion.
But now, as of April 24th, Jia was appointed Co-CEO of Faraday Future.
Anthony Rendon commented. “Notably, FF stands as the only domestic automotive company with both its headquarters and manufacturing facilities located in California. In an era where many enterprises are relocating manufacturing to other states or overseas, FF’s steadfast commitment to California reflects its trust and dedication to this land of innovation.
“California has consistently been a staunch supporter of global new energy initiatives. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, the state boasts a comprehensive green policy framework and unwavering belief in free trade and global collaboration. FF’s ‘Global Automotive Industry Bridge’ strategy exemplifies the globalization and open cooperation spirit we advocate.”
In the meantime the company stock remains under pressure, required by NASDAQ to maintain a value of over a dollar share. The stock today is at around $1.20.The firm’s stock has gyrated wildly over the past year from a high of $156 a share down to $0.83.
Hanford has been waiting for jobs since FF took over the former Pirelli Tire plant, a one million sf building in the Hanford industrial Park.In August 2017, the company announced that it had signed a lease for a former Pirelli tire plant in Hanford, California. The company said that it could employ up to 1,300 people over time and build up to 10,000 cars a year at that location.
Since then they have built just 16 cars, the $300,000 FF91 high end electric car. Still, hope for success springs eternal.
Faraday Future Inc. is considered an American startup technology company founded in 2014 focused on the development of electric vehicles. Based in Los Angeles, California, it began producing vehicles in 2023 and markets them in the United States and China. The company delivered a total of 16 vehicles by January 2025. After two funding rounds in late 2024 totaling $60 million, the company announced it will pivot to its second brand, Faraday X, selling AI-EVs (now called Super One) that would be priced between USD$20,000 to 50,000.
April 30 announcement
On April 30, Faraday Future announced that” it has signed the first binding business-to-business (B2B) pre-order agreement, which includes a non-refundable deposit and a non-binding reservation for 1,000 units of the Company’s highly anticipated FX model, the Super One MPV (Multi-purpose vehicle).
The pre-order was placed by New York City-based automotive dealership, 129 Auto Sales Corp., doing business as JC Auto. It is paying a $100,000 non-refundable deposit, which can be used toward the purchase of FX vehicles, to secure priority delivery of up to 300 FX vehicles, subject to an additional payment. This reservation reflects positive market feedback in the U.S., including by East Coast users. JC Auto plans to establish a premium fleet of up to 300 vehicles that covers the New York area using the FX Flagship model, Super One MPV. The remaining reserved vehicles would be for additional fleet purchases or for users that JC Auto identifies. It also signifies a key milestone in FF’s Global Automotive Industry Strategy and high potential of its “four blue ocean markets” in the U.S. AIEV market.”
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