Lucid (LCID) will unveil not one, but three new affordable electric vehicles to challenge market leaders like Tesla. While we knew Lucid was planning a new midsize electric SUV to rival Tesla’s bestselling Model Y, two more electric vehicles are planned.
CEO Peter Rawlinson confirmed last year that Lucid was developing an electric vehicle priced around $50,000. Rawlinson said the new vehicle was aimed “right at the heart of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y territory.”
After teasing the new Tesla competitor earlier this year, we now got a preview of Lucid’s first mass-market model, a mid-size electric SUV.
Now we learn that Lucid is actually planning to launch three new affordable electric vehicles. In conversation with AutoBuzzDerek Jenkins, senior VP of design at Lucid, described the “mid-size program” and said it will include multiple vehicles.
“They’re going to be younger vehicles, sportier vehicles,” Jenkins explained, adding that Lucid plans to launch three affordable electric vehicles as part of the program to close the gap with Tesla.
We already knew about the midsize SUV that will compete against Tesla’s best-selling Model Y, another will be a mass-market electric sedan similar to the Model 3. But what will the third be?
Lucid wants to compete with Tesla with three affordable electric vehicles
Although Jenkins said he and all the engineers are “huge station wagon fans,” he doesn’t expect a Lucid station wagon electric car to hit the market anytime soon. Jenkins admitted it’s a “dying segment” and he doesn’t think Lucid will “expand in that direction.”
A more likely option is a robust off-road Lucid EV. Jenkins said: “The off-road sector will continue to change and evolve.”
Lucid’s design manager added that an off-road electric vehicle “makes sense because you’re getting the best of two worlds.” You get a slightly sleeker, slightly more car-like vehicle, “but you make it more rugged to get a little bit more robustness and durability,” Jenkins explained.
“There is a whole new product category that could still be on the drawing board for many companies,” says Jenkins.
Lucid’s mid-range program focuses on compact, lighter vehicles “with the utmost focus on aerodynamics, efficiency and space,” Jenkins added.
Although it won’t be as fast as the Air, it will still be impressive and “have a price that is affordable for many more people,” the CEO explained.
Lucid is already cutting costs with new technology. The Lucid Air 2025 starts at $69,990, a huge difference from the first Dream Edition model, which costs $169,000.
Last month, Lucid’s first electric SUV, Gravity, rolled off the assembly line at its Arizona plant, with deliveries expected later this year.
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