Faraday Future has once again found itself in the headlines, but not for the reasons it would prefer. In the early morning hours of September 28, one of the company’s earliest FF 91 prototypes caught fire inside its Los Angeles headquarters, leading to an evacuation, a structural scare, and yet another black mark on the EV startup’s turbulent record.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, crews were dispatched at 4:37 a.m. local time and managed to extinguish the blaze within 40 minutes. Sprinklers helped contain the fire, but not before an explosion blew out part of a wall. Firefighters were forced to break into the facility, and when the smoke cleared, the building was red-tagged as unsafe.
Fortunately, no one was injured. But for Faraday Future—a company that has spent nearly a decade teetering between ambitious promises and financial freefall—the optics are brutal.
A Nine-Year-Old Relic, Not a Recall Risk
Faraday Future moved quickly to calm fears of a broader safety issue. The company stressed that the vehicle in question was an internal prototype, designated B40, built roughly nine years ago. In its statement, Faraday emphasized that the old test mule “does not meet the flammability standards of production vehicles” and that the incident has no connection to current FF 91 production models.
Engineers suspect the fire originated from either a short circuit in the prototype’s cabin wiring or a faulty connection in its 12-volt system. Importantly, the company claimed the high-voltage traction battery was not involved.
That’s good news for current customers—however few they may be—but the episode highlights a recurring problem. This is not Faraday Future’s first brush with fire; another prototype reportedly burned in 2022, though details were scarce beyond a handful of leaked photos.
Trouble at the Worst Possible Time
The timing couldn’t be worse. Faraday Future is still trying to establish credibility after the FF 91—its long-delayed electric luxury crossover—was met with underwhelming reception and sluggish sales. In recent months, the company has floated everything from reworking a Chinese-built van (complete with a digital screen on the nose) to dabbling in cryptocurrencies, all while facing reports of unpaid rent on the very property where this latest fire broke out.
The lease on that building, incidentally, expired at the end of September.
For an automaker once heralded as a Tesla rival, these repeated setbacks only deepen skepticism. Investors and potential buyers have grown weary of the company’s stop-start production runs, leadership changes, and failed promises. Another fire—even one involving a nine-year-old prototype—does little to inspire confidence.
The Road Ahead
Faraday Future says it will conduct a full investigation, but at this point, the company’s problems extend far beyond electrical shorts. Each incident chips away at an already fragile reputation, and unless the company can shift from crisis management to consistent execution, its future may burn out long before its batteries ever do.
Source: Faraday Future