Lucid Motors—the Silicon Valley automotive startup aiming for the same luxury market as Tesla, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz—has finally put a price on its upcoming all-electric ‘Air’ sedan.
The base version of the ‘Air’ vehicle will be priced at $60,000 (before federal tax incentives) and will be able to drive 240 miles on a single charge. Once federal tax incentives are applied, the base priced Air will cost $52,500, the company said in an announcement Wednesday.
Customers can place a $2,500 deposit to reserve a car but they’ll be waiting a while. The Air will be manufactured in Arizona and deliveries will begin in 2019, the company says. Lucid Motors previously said it would begin producing its cars in the fourth quarter of 2018. It has since moved that to the first half of 2019.
In the first 12 months of production, Lucid plans to produce 10,000 units.
The company revealed more than just the price of its base model in its announcement today.
The Air will have the equivalent of 400 horsepower, rear-wheel drive, and the hardware necessary for autonomous driving. No word on pricing for the autonomous software or if it will be standard.
The Air’s base model will come with 2-way power front seats, LED multi-lens array headlights, four screens with interactive-touch surfaces on three, 5-seat configuration with a rear bench seat, 10 advanced airbags, an aluminum roof, 19-inch wheels, and a 10-speaker audio system.
It will also be able to update the vehicle’s software “over the air,” a capability that has been valuable for Tesla and is considered required for autonomous cars. Tesla regularly updates the software in its cars via wireless networks to enhance performance and fix security bugs. It’s been using these so-called over-the-air software updates for years. This capability has helped the company continually improve its cars even after they’ve been sold and to stay ahead of bigger and more established automakers.
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Lucid Motors started out nine years ago with a different name and mission. The company was initially called Atieva and focused on developing electric car battery technology. But it eventually shifted its attention to building electric cars and changed its name to Lucid Motors in 2016.
Since then, the company has announced plans to build a $700 million factory in Arizona to manufacture its first electric car. The factory, to be built in Casa Grande, Ariz., between Phoenix and Tucson, will employ up to 2,000 workers by 2022.
The company also struck a deal with Samsung SDI to supply it with lithium-ion batteries.
The Lucid Air will be available with a number of upgrades, which will push the price north of $100,000. Customers can upgrade to a vehicle with a 315-mile or 400-mile battery range and up to 1,000 horsepower twin-electric motor configuration with all-wheel drive. Coins2Day took a spin in a 1,000 horsepower prototype with Lucid Motors chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson earlier this year. The takeaway: this car has a ridiculous amount of power.
Other luxury options include a glass canopy roof, 22-way power front seats with heating, ventilation, dynamic bolsters, and massage, 21-inch wheels, a 29-speak audio system, and expanded leather trim and other material upgrades.
The company is also going to offer 225 Launch Edition vehicles, which will also be priced above $100,000. The Launch Editions will have a battery with 315 miles of range and 1,000 horsepower, all-wheel drive motor.
Standard Lucid Air deliveries will begin immediately following the completion of the Launch Edition run.
