Air, Coming In September
Are your ready for Air?
It’s been a long time coming, but funding and an actual assembly plant have a way of making things happen. And such is the case at Lucid Motors, which plans to reveal its production Air sedan on September 9th.
Pricing and specs will be in tow when Lucid stages its digital debut, fulfilling a promise made to eco-conscious car buyers back in early 2017.
A car for the masses it is not, but the Air does have other things going for it. Mainly, an attractive body, a range of battery capacities, and output topping out at 1,000 horsepower. Lucid claims a fleet of prototypes remains on the road for beta testing purposes, while construction continues apace at its Case Grande, Arizona assembly plant.
Headquartered in — where else? — Silicon Valley, Lucid Motors aims to provide Americans with zero-emission luxury. Let other automakers handle the lower end of things.
The Air first greeted the public at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, with the company promising a base, rear-drive, single-motor Air with 240 miles of range and 400 horsepower for a price of $60,000. A 1,000-horsepower, 400-mile AWD version caps the vehicle’s range. Since then, it’s been a long slog.
Things really got underway after Lucid secured $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. That cash allowed Lucid to move forward with plant assembly in Arizona; earlier this year, the automaker announced a partnership with battery maker LG Chem. While production was slated to get underway by the end of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic may have pushed that timeline back. Lucid isn’t saying.
In announcing the Sept. 9 debut, Lucid said its “productivity has continued undiminished.”
“We have, in fact, welcomed over 160 new Lucid team members in the last 90 days alone,” the automaker said. “And we are in the midst of a phased return to our Silicon Valley headquarters in accordance with local and state guidelines, along with our own strict protocols designed to protect the health and safety of all Lucid employees.”
[Images: Lucid Motors]
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I am convinced that all current car designers grew up playing with Hot Wheels cars! Every new design seems to have outrageously sized wheels and tires stuffed under a chopped top looking body that doesn't seem to fit them!
It's a nice looking thing, and I'm sure it will be lovely to drive. But the market has moved on. Tesla hardly bothers trying to sell the Model S anymore. To put it in Mercedes-Benz terms, you can only sell so many cars to the S-class crowd. Way, way more buyers in the E and C class crowds.