North Las Vegas hopes to answer questions about Faraday Future

By Kyle Roerink

Saturday, July 25, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Nevadans know very little about electric car maker Faraday Future, which North Las Vegas is courting to fill an abandoned factory site with a production facility. But, then again, neither do the nation’s gear heads. In fact, for a company on which the city has pinned a great deal of economic hope, the public record is rather thin.

That may begin to change next week.

Faraday will bring a group of Nevada politicians and members of the business community to its research facility in Southern California next week for a preview of the company’s first electric car, due to hit the market in 2017.

It’s a first look that may answer several questions about the company.

Faraday, a startup that left stealth mode this month, has not publicly announced its CEO but has hired several former Tesla and BMW engineers and designers.

What the company has released indicates that its vehicle will be a high-riding sedan that features a battery that stores 15 percent more energy than the one used in the Tesla Model S.

North Las Vegas, the cash-strapped town that’s home to the empty 18,000-acre Apex Industrial Park, is hopeful about the potential of drawing a large-scale, cutting-edge company.

Demand for electric vehicles is on an uptick in the states and internationally. Registrations doubled last year to 740,000 new units, according to new analysis from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research.

But several high-profile electric car companies have failed in previous years, including Southern California’s Fisker Automotive, which debuted in 2008 and ceased production in 2012, going into bankruptcy and selling itself soon after.

There are also several high-profile competitors in the sector. Not just Tesla, but Apple and Google have also begun work on electric vehicles of their own.

In its few public statements, Faraday has been aggressive in distancing itself from other electric car makers. “We’re not Tesla,” Faraday officials said when they announced two weeks ago. “We’re not Fisker. We’re not f***ing around.”

At this point, North Las Vegas officials say they have a similar mindset. But whether that enthusiasm will be shared across the state remains to be seen.

When Tesla chose Nevada to house its battery factory, Gov. Brian Sandoval called a special legislative session where lawmakers passed a series of tax incentives for the company. Tesla received $1.1 billion in tax abatements and $195 million worth of tax credits. Since those credits are not available for other companies, some North Las Vegas politicians are suggesting a special session to hash out a framework for Faraday.

The governor has not yet indicated whether he would be open to doing so.