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]