Faraday Future delays start of FF 91 EV production | John Lindt | business

“The Company needs additional cash to commercially launch the FF 91, and is currently seeking to raise additional capital to fund its operations through Dec. 31, 2022. The Company’s cash needs after the launch of the FF 91 will depend on the extent to which the Company’s actual costs vary from the Company’s estimates.”

Faraday Future is in talks to raise more than $200 million to fund production activities until year-end and beyond, it said in their regulatory filing. The need for an influx of cash is a reversal of an earlier statement last month that the EV start-up would be able to launch its flagship model without additional funding.

In past statements the company said production was to start by this month. Photos show most of the manufacturing equipment is in place in the Hanford factory.

What would be by far the world’s largest energy storage project is being planned in western Fresno County next to the important Gates substation.

Florida-based Key Energy Storage, LLC is proposing to construct and operate the Key Energy Storage Project on approximately 318-acres of private land in western Fresno County.

The site is located 4 miles southwest of Huron, .4 mile east of Interstate 5, immediately south of W. Jayne Avenue, between I-5 and South Lassen Avenue (State Route 269), and adjacent to PG&E’s existing Gates Substation.

According to their application with the county, the energy storage facility would consist of lithium-ion batteries with the potential to store approximately three gigawatts of energy-3000 megawatts. That is more than enough battery storage to hold all Diablo Canyon nuclear plant can generate and seven times larger than the Moss Landing Battery Storage, currently the world’s largest.

At a recent celebration of the Moss Landing project, Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator, called the influx of battery storage capacity on the grid over the past year “an incredible growth curve, an incredible success story,” adding that “We’ve entered a golden age of energy storage here in California.”

The ISO now has more than 3,160 MW of battery storage connected to the grid and is expected to add another 700 MW by the end of June. So the Fresno County project would match all the battery storage now in the state.

Hanford has seen 18 days of above 100-degree temperatures in row in July with some small relief in the forecast. But a National Weather Service spokesperson says this is not a record, and that 19 times we have seen 18 days or more of consecutive 100-degree days. There have been 27 days of triple digit heat in Fresno and Bakersfield so far this year.

Kings County budget numbers: This year’s King County budget is $412,024,153 or $20.3 million less than last year. The General Fund budget is $317,624,017, or approximately $2.98 million less than last year’s budget of $320,622,846 million.

Kings property tax revenue is $43 million — up from $40.7 million in 2020. Sales tax revenue is down over that period from $4.4 million in 2020 to $4 million this year. TOT is up from $246,000 in 2020 to $340,000 in the 22-23 budget.

The Wall Street Journal says “travelers who wondered if they’d ever see cheap airfares again on non-discount airlines can breathe a little easier. Lower fares are returning this fall. Summer vacations didn’t come cheap for many Americans. Airfares soared as families flocked to airports for trips postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, not only are fall deals surfacing, but the gap between summer and fall fares is wider than usual. If current trends hold, even better deals could come along for those who wait, travel analysts say.”

Monterey County is one of the first counties to release their annual crop report for 2021. The report says strawberries again were the number one crop valued at $953 million vs $912 million in 2020. Santa Barbara County also released its 2021 crop report and strawberries too were No. 1. Monterey is one of the few counties that reports their cannabis crop value, which was up in 2021. Valued at $618 million vs $484 million in 2021 the pot crop was No. 3 behind No. 2 head lettuce at $741 million.

RV sales are slowing from their record pace last year. Winnebago expects retail RV sales to likely fall 17 percent this year compared to last. The RV Industry Association has revised its forecast for wholesale shipments, predicting an 8.4 percent drop in 2022 compared to 2021, although shipments hit a record high last year.

What the hay? Corn prices are down this summer but not hay – key forage for dairies and horse ranches. Amid drought in the West, forage costs continue to climb, says the Milk Producers Council. According to the Hoyt Report, premium quality alfalfa delivered to dairies in California’s Central Valley commanded an all-time high of $455 per ton last week, up from $282.50 a year ago.

If you buy gas at Costco you may be saving an average of 37 cents a gallon. Costco Wholesale could sell $30 billion in gasoline in its fiscal year ending in August, with about $25 billion in the US, according to Richard Galanti, the company’s longtime chief financial officer. The company sold a total of $17 billion of gas in fiscal 2021.