Courtesy of insideevs.com
Reports indicate that that Lucid Air will have the capacity to cover up to four hundred miles on a single charge. The key question is the length of time or period it would take for the car to be produced and sold. This startup electric vehicle manufacturer, formerly known as Atieva, made an announcement last week concerning its plans to produce an Air sedan. It further revealed an interesting photo gallery of the vehicle in question. Now, Lucid Motors hopes that deliveries will begin in early 2019. Production is set to start in 2018 at the new assembly plant worth $700 million in Casa Grande, Arizona. The plant will break ground early next year. Lucid’s Global Manufacturing Director, Brian Barron, confirmed the above information during an interview with Automotive News, adding that the timeline was quite aggressive.
Baron spent around twenty years working for one of the most popular automaker models, the BMW. Because of his vast experience, Lucid Motors believes in Barron to lead and ensure that the Lucid Air sedan is delivered within the set timeline. One of the challenges that Lucid faces is that of introducing a car manufacturing plant to the community for the very first time. Currently, the startup is working collaboratively with community colleges around the area of Casa Grande to not only train, but also hire and certify workers who would enhance production. Barron said that when BMW was established in South Carolina, the region had no automotive industry. Textile industries were the most common.
The state of Arizona has transformed from farming and mining and has become attractive to external investors. The popularity of the location has further increased because of its close proximity to interstate highways linked to the West Coast’s major ports, flight and rail routes. Lucid is trying as much as it can to streamline the process. A positive move is to have a third party that would handle the part of the assembly inside the plant. Currently, Lucid is facing a historic challenge that is usually encountered by startup car manufacturers. The automaker has to grab the interest and attention of the market, followed by manufacturing of the vehicles within a timeframe that is realistic, at a reasonable cost. The company has to set up a factory within a short time. Additionally, Lucid Motors has to compete with major car manufacturers such as Tesla Motors, as well as other startups such as Faraday Future, Karma Automotive and Fisker Inc. The automaker plans to roll out 255 units in 2019.