Lucid to start deliveries of electric cars in Oct with higher range than Tesla

Casa Grande, Arizona

US STARTUP Lucid Group Inc said on Tuesday it will start delivering luxury electric sedans with a Tesla-beating driving range in late October, posing a major challenge to the market leader whose sales of premium models have stagnated.

The California-based Lucid began production of its long-delayed Lucid Air cars at its Arizona factory on Tuesday, and said it aims to ramp plant's capacity up to 90,000 vehicles per annum in the next two years.

The top-end Lucid Air Dream Edition will be available in late October, followed by less expensive models: Grand Touring, Touring and Air Pure.

The company said it has received more than 13,000 reservations for Lucid Air models, and it has increased the planned total production of the Lucid Air Dream Edition to 520 vehicles.

A version of the Lucid Air Dream Edition, priced at US$169,000, received an official US government rating of an 837km driving range, about 160km more than its closest rival, Tesla's Model S, which is priced at US$89,990.

The higher range helped lead to a 23 per cent jump in Lucid's shares this month.

Speaking at the production site, Lucid chief executive officer Peter Rawlinson, a former chief engineer on the Tesla Model S, said his company's cars have an advantage in battery technology and costs over the Model S.

"We've ridden customers of the fear of range anxiety," he said. "The next big obstacle is cost effectiveness of electric cars. We've got to get the cost down." He said the Air Pure, the least expensive version with a price tag of US$77,400, will go into production late next year.

The company, founded in 2007, received funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in 2018 before going public via a shell company in July. "I think the big challenge for Lucid will be execution," said Sam Abuelsamid, a principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in June that Tesla has cancelled its plan to launch a Model S Plaid+, with a target driving range of 520 miles, saying the Model S Plaid itself is "just so good".

Tesla's combined sales of Model S and Model X luxury models stood at only 1,890 in the second quarter of this year, down from 22,300 during the same period three years ago. Tesla does not break out figures for the two high-end models. REUTERS