US-based Faraday Future (www.ff.com/us), the electric-car start-up that is developing a 1,000hp self-driving SUV, has signed a lease on what it says will be its assembly plant.

The site in Hanford, California, is one of several that Faraday had been scouting after it pulled the plug on its original plan for a manufacturing facility in Las Vegas.

CFO (and newly appointed COO) Stefan Krause said: “We know there is a lot of work and risks ahead,” adding that the new site “represents a major step forward” for Faraday after a year of executive departures, lawsuits from suppliers, and an impending cash drought.