A subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund to launch its first electric cars

Electric vehicle start-up Lucid said production of its first cars for customers is underway and deliveries are expected to start at the end of next month.

Lucid is the first electric car maker to be listed under the SPAC deal to produce a vehicle that is truly salable to consumers. The achievement is crucial for Lucid, who made his Nasdaq debut in July and is considered a favorite to rival electric car pioneer Tesla.

“I am delighted that production vehicles with this level of efficiency are now coming out of the factory,” said Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson, who was previously chief engineer and vice president of engineering at Tesla, in a press release.

Lucid’s first car is a special edition of the flagship sedan valued at $ 169,000 called the Air Dream Edition, with a peak range of 520 miles, with the company planning to produce just 520 of this model.

The company will launch cars with lower prices starting at $ 77,400 before a federal tax deduction of up to $ 7,500 for the additional vehicles, known as Lucid Air.

Lucid said it has received more than 13,000 bookings in total so far.

Lucid told investors in July that he plans to produce 20,000 Lucid Air sedans in 2022, generating more than $ 2.2 billion in revenue.

Lucid manufactures the Air at a new plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, on an area of ​​590 acres. The plant is expected to produce an SUV called Gravity in 2023.

Founded in 2007 as Atieva, a name it now uses for its engineering and technology arm that supplies batteries to the Formula E electric racing circuit, Lucid initially focused on racing technology. electric batteries before changing its name and becoming an electric car manufacturer in 2016.

Lucid had some difficulty raising capital to fund his plans until September 2018, when he received $ 1 billion from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which remains the company’s largest shareholder with about 62% of shares outstanding, according to FactSet.