CARS OF THE WORLD

Lucid Air Pure RWD 2024.

Lucid Air Pure RWD 2024. Lucid Motors has launched a “budget” version of the Air sedan and launched a second plant.

American electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors, whose main shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), is expanding the range of modifications of its first and so far only model, the large Air sedan.

This week, a new basic version of Lucid Air Pure RWD went on sale in the United States for $77,400, and last week the company reported the launch of its second plant — it was built in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The first and main plant of Lucid Motors is located in the city of Casa Grande (USA, Arizona), two years ago the Lucid Air electric sedans began rolling off its assembly line.

But increasing production volumes is difficult for Lucid Motors; there are still more orders than the company can quickly process: in the first three quarters of this year, Lucid Motors delivered only 4,140 cars to American customers, with a goal of 10,000 by the end of the year.

However, the company expects the growing pains to be overcome soon and wants its order book to continue to grow.

This week, the most affordable Pure RWD version appeared in the Lucid Air range for $77,400, it is equipped with a single electric motor on the rear axle with a power of 436 hp, can accelerate to 60 mph (96.56 km/h) in 4. 5 s and travel 660 km on a single charge according to the EPA cycle (battery capacity — 88 kWh).

At the top of the range is still the three-engine sports Lucid Air Sapphire, the power plant of which produces 1251 hp. and provides acceleration to 60 mph in 1.89 seconds. The Lucid Air Sapphire is equipped with a 118 kWh battery and can travel 687 km on a single charge, priced from $249,000.

The Lucid Motors plant in Jeddah, launched last week, is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, and there has been no mass production of cars in that country before.

The Saudi Arabian government intends to purchase up to 100,000 Lucid electric vehicles within ten years, meaning it will become the main consumer of cars assembled in Jeddah.

The starting capacity of the new plant is only 5,000 cars per year, and assembly is carried out from vehicle kits brought from the USA, but by the end of the decade the plant should switch to full-cycle production, its potential capacity is 150,000 cars per year.

Lucid electric cars are already introduced in Europe, but not yet in China.

Lucid Motors does not yet have clear plans to enter the Chinese market: such a possibility is being considered, but only after the appearance of new, more widespread and affordable models in the Lucid line — they should be expected in the second half of the current decade.

Well, the company’s next new product will be the luxury crossover Gravity, built on the same platform as the Air sedan, which will premiere in November.