American electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Lucid has teased its most affordable model yet, a sub-US$50,000 (A$74,000) Tesla Model Y rival.
The carmaker previewed the sleek, curvaceous silhouette of its new mid-sized SUV to social media platform X, revealing some top line information about the new EV.
“A sneak peak at one of our upcoming midsize vehicles, set for production in late 2026 with a starting price under $50k [USD],” Lucid posted.
“With leading technology and efficiency, it will be able to deliver the same range as competitors while using a smaller battery.”
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Until recently Lucid was exclusively in the business of luxury EVs.
Its Air sedan starts from US$69,900 (~A$104,000), while it’s also rolling out the large Gravity SUV.
However, earlier this year Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson – a former Tesla executive – confirmed the manufacturer was developing a car to target the masses.
“Our mid-size is, for the first time, it’s overtly going to be a Tesla competitor. It’s going to be the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. It’s our big volume platform and we’re going to do this and this is a few years from now,” said Mr Rawlinson.
Lucid’s senior vice president of design and brand, Derek Jenkins, also told Electrek that it was always Lucid’s plan to start with premium products before moving into mainstream segments – much as Tesla did.
Lucid Gravity
“The whole point of all of this is to establish ourselves in this luxury segment and then take all the attributes, all the capability, and a version of the technology and go mainstream.
“That’s what that car represents, and it has all of that, surprisingly.”
Lucid remains an elusive proposition for Australian new car buyers, with production currently limited to left-hand drive vehicles.
With that said, Lucid intends to expand into the UK market, which would require right-hand drive production to commence.
Lucid is a publicly traded American startup, headquartered in California but building vehicles in Arizona. It’s majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
