Lucid unveils first images of EV factory as construction starts

Lucid Motors is finally starting construction on its electric car factory in Arizona after years of financial issues and now has unveiled the first images of its EV factory as construction is starting and should ramp up fast.

In 2017, Lucid Motors announced an aggressive $60,000 base price for its luxury all-electric sedan, the Lucid Air, with a range of 240 miles and some other interesting specs.

At the time, Lucid also unveiled its plan for a $700 million factory in Arizona to produce the Air in 2018.

However, they had difficulties raising the capital needed to start construction on the plant.

Late last year, Lucid secured over $1 billion in investments from Saudi Arabia, which put them back on track for their 2017 plans.

After a year, they started work again at the site Casa Grande site in Arizona.

Now the company has held its ground-breaking event and started construction at the facility.

Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO at Lucid Motors and formerly the chief engineer of the Tesla Model S, commented at the event:

“The Lucid Air is a cutting-edge electric vehicle designed, engineered, and destined for manufacture entirely in America. We are proud to be moving forward on our commitment to manufacturing the Lucid Air in Casa Grande. With supportive investors, an outstanding team of designers and engineers, and a product strategy that extends well beyond the Air, we expect today to be just the start of a longstanding presence in this dynamic city.”

They released the first images of the updated planned factory:

They announced some details about the expected economic impact on the city, county, and state, including:

• Approximately 4,800 direct and indirect jobs by 2029
• Over $700 million in capital investment by Lucid by the mid-2020s
• An estimated $32 billion revenue impact for the city and county over a 20-year period
• Training programs and new curriculums at local community colleges

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey commented:

“Attracting a high-tech automotive manufacturer like Lucid Motors to Arizona is a testament to the talent, business environment, and geographic location our state has to offer innovative companies to help them succeed. I congratulate Lucid Motors, Casa Grande, and Pinal County on achieving this milestone and look forward to seeing the first vehicles roll off the production line.”

Lucid Motors believes they are now on track for production to start in “late 2020.”

Electrek’s Take

We are keeping an eye on this project because it really looks like it’s going to happen now that Lucid has the money and a new large scale EV factory in the US is exciting.

However, I find it hard to believe that production will happen by the end of 2020 or at least not in any kind of significant volume, but I wish them luck because I really want to see the Lucid Air on the road one day.