Tesla Rival Lucid Says Air Sedan Deliveries To Start In Late October, Bookings Cross 13,000

Lucid Air Inc LCID said on Tuesday after kicking off production of its electric vehicles in Casa Grande, Arizona that deliveries would begin in late October.

What Happened: The Peter Rawlinson-led company, which went public in a SPAC with Michael Klein’s Churchill Capital Corp IV, said it has secured over 13,000 reservations for its flagship electric sedan Lucid Air and plans to raise the production of the Dream edition to 520 vehicles.

Lucid’s Air Dream Edition comes with a 520 miles range and will be made in a limited volume. The special edition will go on sale at a $169,000 ticket price.

Seen as a Tesla Inc TSLA rival, the Newark, California-based Lucid Air’s entry-level sedan price will start at $77,400, excluding an up to $7,500 federal tax credit for plug-in vehicles.

See Also: Lucid Sees Tesla As The Real Competition In 'Two-Horse Race' EV Market: CEO

Booking And Production Targets: The company has seen a 30% jump in bookings since July when it reported reservations surpassing 10,000 bookings for Lucid Air, which includes the Dream, Grand Touring, and Touring and Pure variants. 

Lucid had then forecast it expects to deliver 20,000 Lucid Air sedans in 2022 and churn $2.22 billion in sales. 

By 2025, the company expects to ramp up deliveries to 135,000 vehicles and generate more than $13.98 billion in revenue. By then, the company expects to have introduced electric sports utility vehicles and other models in its lineup. 

Lucid has forecast a run-rate production of over 500,000 units by 2030.

Why It Matters: Lucid is among a host of EV startups that have taken the SPAC route to go public. Rawlinson, who was previously chief engineer on Tesla's Model S, is carving out the roadmap cautiously. 

Lucid’s current price points for its models are substantially higher than rivals. These numbers are expected to come down as it launches more vehicles that are currently in the pipeline. 

The company is also aiming to begin deliveries in Europe and China beginning 2022 and 2023, where it is currently expanding its team. 

Price Action: CCIV shares closed 0.61% lower at $9.76 a share on Tuesday.

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Photo: Courtesy of Lucid