Lucid Motors gets real as Saudi funding comes through

Lucid AIrThings just got real for Tesla competitor Lucid Motors. The company, which announced a $1 billion deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund last September, confirmed on Thursday that the investment is complete. That could make Lucid the most realistic competitor to Tesla yet, as it plans to bring its nearly fully developed Lucid Air to...

Saudi investment fund reportedly wants stake in Lucid Motors

Lucid AirThe Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund may be planning to buy a stake in potential Tesla rival Lucid Motors, according to a Reuters report. Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested last week that he had held talks with the same Saudi investment fund. The report says that the fund has drawn up a term sheet to invest $500 million in Lucid. It could invest up...

Odds for auto startups are incredibly high; can Tesla beat them?

Tesla Motors, Palo Alto, CaliforniaMuch of the energy and growth in the U.S. economy comes not from large corporations but from small startup companies, as economic data shows. By now, the model of a young, energetic entrepreneur with a bright idea who turns it into a world-changing business is well established. Think Facebook or Google, or before them Microsoft or IBM or Kodak, or...

Lucid looking for savior, perhaps, after Ford declines to buy company

Lucid AirThe image of the electric car as the future of passenger vehicles has led to a wealth of start-up companies hoping to cash in on the newest type of automotive propulsion. Starting a company—an automobile company at that—is not an easy task, however. Now Lucid Motors (nee Atieva) may be on the brink of discovering that. A new report...

Lucid Air electric luxury sedan: a Tesla Model S owner’s take

Lucid Air electric luxury sedan prototype  [photo: David Noland]It’s a cool spring morning in Menlo Park, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. In a two-story concrete-and-glass building on Constitution Avenue, just down the block from Facebook’s vast fortress, a group of automotive engineers and designers is working to create the next-generation luxury high-performance all-electric sedan. A...

Luxury electric Lucid Air sedan hits 217 mph in stability test

Lucid AirOnly a handful of people have ridden in one outside the company, but development of the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan seems to be proceeding apace. The company said yesterday at the New York auto show that a development prototype had reached an electronically limited top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph) in testing last month. Lucid Motors, formerly...

What Tesla hath wrought: bumper crop of luxury electric cars

Jaguar I-Pace Concept, 2016 Los Angeles Auto ShowIt may have taken some time, but the auto industry is now reacting to Tesla in full force. More than four years after the first Tesla Model S was delivered, we are on the verge of a bumper crop of luxury electric cars. A mix of established automakers and startups looking to emulate Tesla's success are planning a growing array of new models, the...

Lucid Air priced slightly below Tesla Model S at $60,000

Lucid AirThe Lucid Air electric car will be available in a base model with less power and a lower range than the high-end model unveiled last year, but at a much lower price. A Lucid Motors press release confirmed the Air base model will start at $52,500, after the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric cars is applied. That means the true base price will...

Lucid Air luxury electric car: Bloomberg gets brief ride

Lucid AirWhen it comes to luxury electric-car startups, hype is the name of the game. Lucid Motors unveiled its Air luxury sedan in December, promising a range of up to 400 miles, power of 1,000 horsepower, and cutting-edge technology. But very few people outside the company have gotten more than a glimpse at what, on paper, looks like a Tesla-rivaling...

Lucid Air electric car video show luxury sedan on the road

Lucid AirLucid Motors, the California automotive startup formerly known as Atieva, unveiled its Air electric car in December 2016. But so far, the car hasn't been seen on public roads. Lucid has now rectified that by releasing a video that shows its luxury sedan driving around the San Francisco Bay Area. DON'T MISS: Lucid reveals design for its luxury Air...

Lucid reveals design for its luxury Air sedan, a Tesla competitor

Lucid AirLucid Motors—the California automotive startup formerly known as Atieva—had previously announced its intention to build a long-range electric luxury sedan, putting it in competition with Tesla Motors. We now have some key details and a first look at the design of this car, as well as its name: the Air. Confirming previous reports, base...

Lucid electric ‘executive sedan’: 100-kwh battery, 1,000-hp motor

Prototype for Lucid electric car due in 2018From small startups to major established automakers, many companies have Tesla Motors in their sights. But Lucid Motors—the California-based startup formerly known as Atieva—may have the biggest guns in its arsenal of any of Tesla's would-be rivals. The company plans to unveil its previously-teased electric "executive sedan" December...

Lucid (nee Atieva) to build luxury electric cars in Arizona factory

Teaser for Lucid electric carLucid Motors has become the latest startup automaker proposing to build electric cars in the U.S. The company—formerly known as Atieva—says it plans to break ground next year on a new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid will begin production of its first electric car by 2018, it said in a statement, and expects to employ more than...

Atieva now Lucid Motors; plans 300-mile, 900-hp electric car

Teaser for Lucid electric carChinese-backed startup Atieva has changed its name to Lucid Motors, and revealed more details about its planned electric car. From what we know so far, that car will be a fast luxury sedan with a range of around 300 miles, putting it in competition with the Tesla Model S. The company now known as Lucid is one of several startups aiming to repeat...