The Air electric luxury sedan from US start-up Lucid Motors has officially entered production.
The first customer-quality Air sedans rolled off the production line in Casa Grande, Arizona, home to Lucid’s Advanced Manufacturing Plant and Lucid Powertrain Manufacturing facilities.
The first US deliveries of these Tesla Model S-rivaling EVs are expected to begin in late October 2021.
Lucid Motors invited customers, analysts, investors, media, as well as Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to its Production Preview Week festivities.
The vehicle that’s shown rolling off the production line is a Lucid Air Dream Edition model, which is the company’s name for a launch edition.
There have now been 13,000 reservations of the Lucid Air according to Lucid and the company has increased the total production run of the Dream Edition to 520 vehicles.
The long-range variant of the Dream Edition with the 19-inch alloy wheels fitted recently received an official EPA range rating of 836km.
Every Air variant beats the Tesla Model S in terms of claimed electric range.
In its most efficient guise, the Long Range, the Model S has a 651km EPA range rating and a 652km figure under the WLTP standard.
“I’m delighted that production cars endowed with this level of efficiency are currently driving off our factory line,” said Peter Rawlinson, Lucid Group CEO and CTO.
The Air has met all the applicable regulatory requirements from the EPA and the US Department of Transportation.
Even though the Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-1) was only finished less than 12 months ago, Lucid said it’s expanding by an additional 265,000 square metres to support future production.
Lucid Gravity
The company said this expansion will allow space for its first SUV, the Gravity, which is expected to start production in 2023.
All 2022 Lucid Air models use a 900V architecture and come with dual electric motors powering all four wheels. It’s capable of charging at a rate of 300kW when plugged into a DC fast-charger.
It’s still uncertain if Lucid is looking to sell cars here in Australia, but the company is taking US$1000 (A$1379) deposits in the USA, Canada, and parts of Europe and the Middle East.
MORE: 2022 Lucid Air: Tesla Model S rival to offer 836km of range
