Lucid Motors Plans $700 Million EV Plant in Arizona for Mystery Car Production
Lucid Motors, which hopes to someday be an EV manufacturing heavyweight rivaling Tesla, took an important step on Tuesday by announcing plans for an assembly plant in Casa Grande, Arizona. The automotive startup claims it could create up to 2,000 jobs over five years. Governor Doug Ducey seems particularly pleased to divulge Lucid’s commitment to training and hiring Arizona veterans.
For its part, Arizona will offer $46 million in subsidies dependent upon the company reaching milestones as it approaches vehicle production.
“We’ve demonstrated that Arizona is among the most competitive states in the nation to work and do business — we’re talking technology companies, we’re in Silicon Valley. We’re talking with organizations considering Arizona over other states,” Ducey said at the announcement.
AZCentral reported that Lucid had scouted 13 other states before finally settling on Arizona. “The word’s out on us,” Ducey said.
However, the word is not yet out on Lucid’s financial stability.
The company has reportedly already raised $131 million, but will still need to find more cash early next year. Current investors include Chinese electronics firm LeEco, Venture Rockefeller, Japan’s Misui & Co. and Beijing Auto, but Brian Barron — the company’s director of manufacturing — maintains that Lucid Motors is an American firm.
LeEco is behind two other electric car projects: its own LeSee and the American-based Faraday Future. The company recently announced a plan to construct a $1.8 billon EV plant in China and Faraday Future has its own billion-dollar desert factory in Nevada. Plant construction has been halted due to Faraday having missed payments to the contractor, while LeEco admitted that it was quickly running out of money.
However, if everything goes according to plan, Lucid CTO Peter Rawlinson wants the company to start unit production in 2018. The initial run of Model-S rivals will be limited to 10,000 in that first year, with the goal of increasing that to 60,000 units annually. However, not a lot is known about the car Lucid will put into production. Rawlinson has said it should have roughly the same interior dimensions as a BMW 7 Series, have autonomous capabilities, and a minimum range of 300 miles.
While it hasn’t said so explicitly, the company also wants it to best Tesla in terms of performance. Lucid has been showcasing videos of its EV powertrain inside of Edna — a modified Mercedes-Benz van — reaching 60 mph as fast as a Tesla Model S operating in “Ludicrous Mode.”
[Image: Lucid Motors]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Maybe all the Telsa wanna bees can team up and have one plant built instead of starting and stopping a bunch of them, didn't Telsa start out with a old GM plant, would that not be cheaper and easier in the short term and maybe long term???
"The initial run of Model-S rivals will be limited to 10,000 in that first year..." They'll have no trouble limiting production to 10,000 units.