California’s Lucid Motors, which simply final week began taking reservations for its costliest mannequin but, the quarter-million-dollar, 1,200-plus hp Air Sapphire, would possibly already be beginning manufacturing of its most reasonably priced, sub-$90,000 Air Pure model.
In a Twitter publish Friday, the corporate supplied a glimpse of a Lucid Air coming off the manufacturing line with a stable aluminum roof. That’s a definite variation from the glass cover roof constructed into the Air Dream Version and Grand Touring fashions that the corporate has been making up till now. And contemplating that the stable roof is coming with later availability to the mid-range Air Touring however is a distinguishing characteristic of the Air Pure from the beginning, all indicators pointed to the latter.
This #LaborDayWeekend, we rejoice those that roll up their sleeves and get issues achieved. #DreamAhead pic.twitter.com/EGKJ8r9kI5
— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) September 2, 2022
Lucid confirmed to Inexperienced Automotive Reviews that the automotive within the image with CEO/CTO Peter Rawlinson and chief engineer Eric Bach is certainly an Air Pure.
Sure, that’s the model beginning at $88,900, together with the $1,500 vacation spot payment. The Lucid Air Pure can be obtainable in a single-motor rear-wheel-drive configuration, flagged in Lucid’s construct device for “later availability”—so it’s seemingly that this early Pure variations have the $5,500 dual-motor all-wheel drive possibility, bringing the entire to not less than $94,400.
The Pure is the entry level for the lineup however isn’t stripped-down; it’s the package deal that CEO Rawlinson has singled out for being the “purest expression of the Air,” as its flatter battery packaging—shared with the Touring—permits extra rear footwell area. It’s also lighter and extra consistent with the corporate’s emphasis on effectivity. Within the not-so-distant future, its expertise would possibly assist enable mass-market EVs that may go farther with smaller battery packs than rival fashions.
Lucid has listed the Air Pure as attaining an anticipated vary of 406 miles—not but EPA-confirmed, however coincidentally 1 mile longer than the present longest-range Tesla Mannequin S. The Lucid Air exhibits its effectivity superiority in attaining that with a usable battery capability someplace close to its listed 88 kwh, whereas the Mannequin S has a usable capability of about 95 kwh.
2022 Lucid Air
And though Tesla confirmed a aggressive edge when Lucid first introduced Air particulars, it’s since hiked its costs as soon as once more. At current, a non-Plaid Mannequin S begins at $106,190—apples to apples, almost a $12,000 distinction between dual-motor variations with 400-plus miles of EPA vary.
This all mentioned, no formal announcement about its manufacturing ramp or arrival timeline has but been issued by the automaker. The Air Touring and Air Pure have each been due by the tip of the yr, in accordance with Lucid, and regardless that the corporate’s ramp-up of quantity hasn’t been going as rapidly as initially deliberate, it’s an excellent signal to see a mixture of fashions being made.
Ultimately replace the Lucid Air Touring and Grand Touring have been each anticipated in This fall, however it’s possible that the automaker may need skipped forward to the Pure first for supply-chain causes and a manufacturing ramp that’s gone slower than anticipated. Earlier this yr, the corporate pointed to glass as one of many commodity gadgets it was having points procuring.
Lucid Air in manufacturing – Casa Grande, Arizona
Lucid final month halved its 2022 manufacturing estimate, reporting continued supply-chain and logistics challenges. The corporate now expects to ship 6,000 to 7,000 automobiles in 2022, and on the finish of the primary half of this yr had delivered 1,039 automobiles—amounting to 1,164 whole Air fashions delivered to that date.
Discovering consumers is certainly not the problem. As of August 3, Lucid reported greater than 37,000 reservations, a quantity up about 7,000 versus the earlier quarter and regardless of an enormous value hike of as much as $15,000 throughout the mannequin line.
Word that many can be getting the Pure for $10,000 lower than its present $88,900 value, as Lucid allowed earlier reservation-holders till June 1 to lock in pricing.
Lucid at the moment has an put in capability of 34,000 automobiles yearly, ought to it push previous these points, and a Part 2 growth upping capability to 90,000 models yearly—together with area to construct the upcoming Gravity SUV—is deliberate for early 2023. It’s additionally damaged floor on a Saudi Arabia manufacturing facility that can be capable to make as much as 155,000 automobiles.
