The Lucid Air Pure Has Gotten A Lot Cheaper Since its Introduction
The Lucid Air is one of the most impressive and expensive EVs on sale today. Its range and acceleration are the stuff of legend, but its price tag means that only the most privileged buyers can get behind the wheel. However, while it’s still quite pricey, the car just got significantly more affordable, and the automaker is offering credits for charging equipment.
The Lucid Air Pure now starts at $71,400, down from the $78,900 starting price it carried late last year and reduced even more from its original $83,900 starting price. The all-wheel drive-equipped Touring model starts at $79,400, and the range-topping Grand Touring at $111,400. Its 500-mile range estimate makes it the longest-range EV on sale in the U.S. now.
Lucid will also offer a $1,000 credit toward home charging equipment and complimentary scheduled maintenance for the first 24,000 miles or two years. The automaker acknowledged pricing as a barrier for many buyers, which has hit its bottom line particularly hard. It delivered just over 6,000 vehicles out of the 8,428 it built and laid off almost a fifth of its workforce last year.
The Air’s striking design and technology were significant selling points initially, but the market has grown with several compelling models. Lucid also has to grapple with the fact that the early adopters who were willing to plunk down the cash for a new EV have already bought the car they wanted, leaving few people lined up to buy.
[Image: Lucid Motors]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
More by Chris Teague
Comments
Join the conversation
It's a fine piece of metal artwork which is also driveable. These future orphan cars may not ever have cult followings due to the complexities of software and the cost of batteries. Almost the same price as the BMW i3 battery replacement posted earlier.
The Lucid Air is not a SUV. It´s a hatchback sedan like the Tesla Model S. "This luxury SUV is getting more affordable? The introduction to this article is wrong.
More than 70 years ago Preston Tucker built the best American car, but eventually, the company went out of business. Lucid is the best American sedan today, but due to the company's inefficiencies, it too will go out of business. Their volume is too low and they lose more than $30,000 per vehicle. Sometimes having the best product is no guarantee of success.
Unless Lucid is bought out by another company I give them 5 more years of survival.
Lucid makes Tesla look like it was formed from rocks. The Air is far more advanced.
Tesla vs. Lucid is very much quantity over quality. Tesla is the WalMart of EVs.