Lucid

A brand new name to most consumers, Newark, California-based Lucid Motors may only have delivered its first cars in 2021 but the firm dates back to 2007.

Originally known as Atieva, Lucid was first a supplier of battery packs, controllers and drivetrain components for electric vehicles. In 2013 the company decided to develop a vehicle of its own, and hired charismatic engineer Peter Rawlinson as its Chief Technical Officer.

A graduate of the Imperial College of London, Rawlinson first designed cars and vehicle systems for Jaguar in the 1980s before moving on to Lotus, and acted as a consultant for many other vehicle projects before joining Tesla in 2010. At Tesla, he was responsible for the technical execution and delivery of the Model S. The S proved to be a watershed moment in EV history, a car that was at once practical to live with in ways electrics had not been for a century but also intrinsically desirable on style, speed and dynamics.

Atieva approached Rawlinson in 2013 and lured him to the company by agreeing on two conditions, first to build a car that could truly take on the world’s best luxury cars, and second to change the company’s name to something that sounded less like a brand of yogurt. In 2016, changed its name to Lucid Motors and unveiled a dramatic lozenge-shaped prototype, the Lucid Air.

Lucid’s first running development vehicle, a minivan nicknamed Edna and using Atieva batteries, but previewed what the driving experience might be like, with over 900 horsepower from its dual motors and a zero-to-sixty time of 2.74 seconds. In 2018, a working Air prototype set an EV record lap time at California’s Laguna Seca racetrack, further confirming the company’s high-speed intent.

After several rounds of investment, including billions from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Lucid’s first factory, in Casa Grande, Arizona, was completed in late 2019, the same year Rawlinson also became CEO. The production Lucid Air debuted in September of 2020. 

Designed to de-throne the Tesla S at the top of the EV luxury sedan heap, the Air will be offered in single and dual-motor setups, features a hugely roomy interior topped by a glass roof and a soft but muscular shape. Dual-motor versions are blindingly fast, but most importantly, the early versions of the Air offer more range than any other electric car, up to 520 miles according to the EPA.

The company is currently working on a crossover SUV, thus far known as the Gravity, to take on the Tesla Model Y, and a smaller sedan aimed at the Model 3, but both are some ways off from production.

Production of the Lucid Air began in September of 2021, with customer deliveries starting the following month. Though the company does not have conventional dealerships, as of February, 2022 it operates 22 Studio and Service Center locations, the majority of which are in California. Lucid offers four-year, 50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper and eight-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranties on the Air.