(Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider)
Faraday Future research and development senior vice president, Nick Sampson.
For all of the attention that electric-car startup Faraday Future has gotten in the last year, there's still very little that's known about the company.
When it first appeared in California last year, Faraday Future was quickly dubbed a potential Tesla-killer, backed by Chinese-internet billionaires keen to get into the EV game.
After months of speculation and the occasional teaser from Faraday, the startup showed off its FFZero1 vehicle concept at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
With it, came Faraday's Variable Platform Architecture and modular battery packs — both of which are supposed to help Faraday produce multiple types of vehicles, large and small.
We also know that Faraday wants to be more than just an automaker — targeting multiple domains, including tech, internet, and entertainment — all of which would be delivered to something with four wheels.
But once Faraday Future announced a $1 billion deal to build an assembly plant in Nevada, the questions really started piling up.
Here's two company names you need to know going forward: Leshi Internet Information and Technology, and LeEco. Leshi is a Chinese media company. LeEco — which is Faraday Future's corporate partner — is one of Leshi's business divisions. LeEco is formerly known as LeTV.
The Faraday Future factory deal was announced in December — the same month that trading of Leshi shares was suspended on markets in China.
The Leshi stock suspension worried state officials in Nevada, where policymakers had offered Faraday more than $215 million in tax breaks to get the factory built.
(AP Photo/John Locher)
A sign advertises Mountain View Industrial Park near Apex Industrial Park on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in North Las Vegas, Nev.
Nevada state treasurer Dan Schwartz told Business Insider that he asked Faraday Future for about $75 million as collateral for the project.
"I'm only responsible to the taxpayers of Nevada," Schwartz said.
Faraday Future executives announced on Thursday that the company would put up a $75 million performance bond for the project. Another $13 million would be paid by mid-May to go toward construction.
As it turns out, Nevada's concerns about the link between Leshi's suspended stock and the risk associated with the Faraday factory could be misplaced.
The trade suspension was part of the normal course of business in China, as Leshi undergoes some corporate restructuring. Leshi stock, once expected to resume trading on the Shenzen exchange this week, has been pushed back to May 7, according to a statement from Leshi that was obtained by Business Insider.