Guide to Lucid Motors EVs: Models, Cost, Availability, and Range

This luxury EV startup is borrowing several pages out of Tesla's playbook.

Beth Nichols | 

Aug 3, 2022 | 3 min read

Lucid

What Is Lucid Motors?

Lucid Motors is essentially Tesla 2.0, aspiring to capture the public’s attention with high-performance, luxury EVs, but under the leadership of an automotive engineer instead of, well, Elon Musk. Lucid started life in 2007 as a battery supplier named Atieva before reimagining itself as a high-end automaker in 2016. Lucid broke ground on its Arizona assembly plant three years later, largely thanks to financial support from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. And now, it has produced its first vehicle, the precedent-breaking Air.

Given the brand’s resemblance to Tesla—which has had wild success on the stock market—it’s no wonder many eyes are on Lucid, which went public in July, 2021 under the ticker symbol LCID after a multibillion-dollar merger with special-purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp IV. The electric automaker has since had a tough go of it on the NASDAQ due in part to its recent production cutbacks.

Lucid

What Kinds of Electric Cars Does Lucid Make?

The sleek Air electric sedan takes aim at the Tesla Model S—a vehicle that Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson helped create—with up to 1,111 horsepower and promises of future hands-free capability using its DreamDrive tech suite. Hitting 60 mph in 2.5 seconds to the Model S Plaid’s 2.0, it’s not quite as quick as its competitor, but it’s tops in two important metrics: The Dream variant can go 520 miles between charges and needs only 20 minutes at a fast-charging station to recoup 300 miles of range, making it the longest-range, quickest-charging EV on the market.

There’s a competitor to the Tesla Model X in the works, too, but don’t expect to see the Lucid Gravity SUV on roads until 2024 at the earliest.

Lucid

How Much Does a Lucid EV Cost?

Lucid’s electric car prices are not for the faint of heart. The Air Dream started at $170,500. We’re using the past tense here as the company capped Dream orders at 520 examples to commemorate the model’s industry-leading electric range.

The base Air, called Pure, starts at $88,900 and promises 406 miles of range and 480 horsepower. The 620-hp Touring and 819-hp Grand Touring open at $108,900 and $155,500, respectively. If you want the 1,050-hp Grand Touring Performance, you’ll need at least $180,500.

Lucid

When Will I Be Able to Buy a Lucid Electric Car?

You can buy one now, but if you’re not already in line, you will be waiting a while. Lucid supposedly has 25,000 reservations, and while it initially planned to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, it has since lowered that target to between 12,000 and 14,000. If you’re interested in joining the queue, you need only $300 to reserve an Air Pure, but $1,000 to get a higher trim.

Lucid

How Many Electric Vehicles Has Lucid Sold?

In 2021, the company delivered 125 cars—well short of its goal of 500. Lucid claims to have missed its target due to material quality concerns, rather than the semiconductor shortage. Air Dream and Grand Touring deliveries are underway, and Lucid expects to have some Pure, Touring, and Grand Touring Performance models in customer hands by the end of 2022. That said, as of February, it was still playing catch-up, having fulfilled fewer than 400 orders.

Lucid

Beth Nichols

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Beth Nichols stumbled into automotive journalism and found her footing, jumping between a few car magazines before going freelance. Her head, once full of useless facts about literature and art history, now holds useless facts about vehicles. She edits, checks, and occasionally creates content for Capital One, and though she understands it’s customary to write a bio in the third person, I don’t like it.