To anyone in the car world, electric cars are synonymous with Tesla. Ever since their launch in 2008, Tesla has been the only car company to make electric vehicles with enough battery capacity to eliminate the range anxiety that comes with all other EVs. Now, there is a new player in the game. On December 14, 2016, they unveiled their plans for their first car, which they have called the Lucid Air. The company claims it will have a battery pack capable of 1,000 horsepower and up to 400 miles of range.
Lucid is betting big on the car’s success as they also unveiled their new plan to build a $700 million factory.
The company was founded under the name Atieva in 2007 and worked on producing batteries for electric vehicles. In 2014, they began work on their own electric vehicle. On October 19, 2016, Atieva re-branded itself as Lucid Motors with the goal of ending the reign of Telsa. Lucid is betting big on success as they also unveiled their new plan to build a $700 million factory in Casa Grande, Arizona dedicated specifically to automobile manufacturing. Lucid has reportedly raised $131 million through investors and plans to look for more throughout 2017.
Lucid is not one to be taken lightly. Their Chief Technology Officer, Director of Sales, and Director of Supply Chain are all former Tesla employees which gives Lucid a serious chance of taking on Tesla in the near future.
Don’t expect to see any Lucid cars on the road any time soon. At this point, the car is only a concept and they have yet to break ground for the factory. In a blog post about the factory, the company stated, “We plan to break ground and begin hiring in the first half of 2017. In 2018, we will begin production of our first model. By 2022, we anticipate having over 2,000 full-time employees working on site.”
It is clear that Lucid will not be contending with Tesla any time soon, but they do show us that Tesla is no longer alone in the world of electric automobiles.
Source: Lucid Motors
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