The first of three midsize EVs, an SUV, is set to go into production late next year, at a promised cost below $50,000.
Looked at one way, the EV startup Lucid Motors faces huge challenges. For five years, it’s only sold about 10,000 cars a year, its cash burn is prodigious even by auto-startup standards, and it hasn’t had a permanent CEO since longtime leader Peter Rawlinson resigned in February.
On the other hand, acting CEO Marc Winterhoff was distinctly upbeat during a media briefing last week that previewed the keynote address he is to give at the huge IAA auto show this week. The headline news is that the Gravity electric SUV is now available for orders in Europe, with deliveries to start early next year.
Europeans can order the high-end Grand Touring trim now, at a starting price of 116,900 Euros (roughly $137,000) in Germany. The Touring trim will be available “later,” at a price of 99,900 Euros. Range of the 123-kilowatt-hour battery version is quoted at up to 748 kilometers (465 miles) on 20- or 21-inch wheels, tested on the European WLTP cycle that’s somewhat more lenient than US EPA testing, which rates the same SUV at 450 miles of range.
The Gravity is a known quantity in North America by now, at least to auto reporters and most EV shoppers. The company offered drives of prototype vehicles 18 months ago, and US deliveries of the Gravity started recently. The launch “Dream Edition” has already sold out and Lucid expects the majority of its deliveries for the rest of the year to be Gravity SUVs, rather than the 4-year-old Air luxury sedan. Winterhoff said Gravity demand has been strong enough to exceed current production capacity.
Lucid Gravity
So … what’s next?
Following the Tesla playbook, just as EV startup Rivian is also doing, Lucid plans to supplement lower volumes of its large luxury models with a range of smaller, more affordable premium midsize vehicles—and, it turns out, there will be several of them.
Eighteen months ago, the company flashed a quick image of a shrouded midsize crossover on the screen during a presentation to show off its retooled and expanded Arizona factory. Then, exactly a year ago, it showed a slightly clearer partial rendering of what appeared to be that same vehicle—saying production would start in “late 2026” with a starting price “under $50K.” Lucid promised the midsize SUV would deliver “the same range as competitors” using a smaller battery, which helps keep the price low.
In the media interview, Winterhoff reiterated the planned start-of-production date at the end of 2026 for its first midsize vehicle, almost surely the SUV. It will compete with the Rivian R2, the aging Tesla Model Y, and various EV utilities from established makers.
More interestingly, he said a second model—or “top hat” in industry lingo—would follow “shortly thereafter,” and a third roughly one and a half years after that. The first two are thus likely to be 2027 models, with the third anyone’s guess.
So if the first one is the SUV, will the second be a sedan, reversing the Tesla cadence? Or will it be something different? Asked about commercial applications—think Rivian’s battery-electric delivery vans, for instance—Winterhoff said the midsize vehicles largely target retail buyers, but will have a role in the fleet market as well. (They will also be assembled from Completely Knocked Down, or CKD, kits in Lucid’s Saudi Arabia factory.)
Further, Winterhoff suggested, the company’s midsize platform could serve as a future platform for driverless vehicles—like, perhaps, the robotaxis it announced in July it would develop with Uber. Is that vehicle the third model on the midsize platform? It’s entirely possible.
Lucid has many bridges to cross before volume production of affordable EVs. First, the Gravity has to be a sales success not only in North America, but in Europe and other markets as well. Second, further factory expansion will be a necessity. And, of course, it has to be able to deliver on the promise of elegant luxury, long range, and a desirable vehicle that’s still priced under $50,000.
Its acting CEO exuded confidence it could do all that. Stay tuned.