KEY POINTS

  • Lucid motors will unveil its production version of the Lucid Air on April this year
  • Lucid is also building 80 prototypes of the Air to do various testing
  • The Casa Grande factory is currently under construction and most structural steel will be in place before March

Luxury electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid Motors turns up the heat as it is set to unleash its production version of the Lucid Air model in April.

The Newark, California-based Tesla competitor, prior to this latest development, announced that it lowered down the cost to pre-order the Lucid Air from $2,500 to $1,000. The fee will grant the reservation holder the priority to purchase the company's first model. Now, Lucid will allow everyone to soak in more juicy details about Lucid Air's production specifications, available configurations, and pricing information in a few months from now.

Lucid Air tweeted, "Get ready for the global reveal of our production #LucidAir in New York in April. See how we're gearing up for the start of manufacture at the end of 2020 and become one of the first to reserve yours."

The tag price for the EV is already pegged at $60,000 for its base version, which is about $15,000 short of the basic Model S of Tesla. The fully loaded Air is estimated to be in upwards of $100,000. The vehicle will provide future owners 400 miles of range from a 100 kWh battery and a top speed of 200 mph.

Factory Update

The company's factory in Arizona that took quite some time before it broke ground in December is currently under construction, and Lucid Motors posted an update on its website about its progress.

"Construction at our Casa Grande, AZ, factory is well underway. Most structural steel will be in place by the end of February, and you can watch as we complete buildings and install production equipment, including a state-of-the-art paint shop. We expect our first pre-production cars to roll off the line early in Q4 of 2020, with full production following that phase by the end of 2020."

Beta prototypes

Lucid Motors is also building 80 prototypes of the Lucid Air in its Silicon Valley headquarters. The prototypes will be used for exhaustive testing in which the EV maker will produce video updates of the test the vehicle's software for traction and stability, control, braking, and steering systems. Lucid will also test chassis and durability and confirm crash simulations with actual tests.

Lucid also stated that they are outlining a network for retail and service locations.

Lucid Motors
California-based Lucid Motors unveiled a prototype of a luxury sedan the Lucid Air at its unveiling in Fremont, Dec. 14, 2016. REUTERS/Alexandria Sage
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