Meghana KandraBeating the range with its rival, Tesla by 100 miles, Lucid Air is ready to be delivered to its customers. Lucid Air is known to have more than 13,000 pre-orders. Where a version of Lucid Air Dream Edition is known to be priced at $169,000.
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The less expensive versions like Grand Touring, Touring, and Air Pure will be delivered followed by the Dream Air edition. Furthermore, recently the company announced that they have increased the planned total production of Lucid Air to 520 units from the earlier 500 units.
Tesla Model S Long Range has a range of 412 miles, but Lucid Air will be delivering the highest possible range with 520 miles. It helped jump 23% share value this month after its announcement earlier. Talking about the batteries, the Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson stated at the production site that their cars have an added advantage. That Lucid cars have battery technology and hence costs move than the Model S. Rawlinson is a former chief engineer in Tesla, who worked on Tesla Model S.
He said, “We’ve ridden customers of the fear of range anxiety. The next obstacle is the cost-effectiveness of electric cars. We’ve got to get the cost down.” From Lucid Group, the least expensive car is priced at $77,400, known as Air Pure. This version is yet to receive its EPA certification, so it would be interesting to know what range they can provide for that cost.
Challenges
Founded in 2007, the company is able to start deliveries only now. Initially, the company received funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2018. Then the company went public this year. First known as Lucid Motors, after the public announcement of the merger with Churchill Capital, the company is now known as Lucid Group.
Rawlinson stated, “(20)17 and (20)18 were brutal. The company was in a parlous state. And then I’ve got to say, we met a perfect partner.” Interestingly, Rawlinson is facing a similar challenge face by Tesla in its initial days. The mass production of vehicles has its own challenges which will be unveiled as the process goes on.
A principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights, Sam Abuelsamid said, “I think the big challenge for Lucid will be execution. I think that they have a very good car. It’s very attractive.” Furthermore, Abuelsamid added, ” The Model S doesn’t look fundamentally different from a Model S nine years ago. In the premium market, customers are looking for the latest and greatest.”