During the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Phase 2 at Lucid Motors' AMP-1 production facility in Arizona, CEO Peter Rawlinson hinted at the automaker's third model – a mid-size electric vehicle (EV) that will directly compete with the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. The event marked the completion of Phase 2, which is part of Lucid's four-phase expansion plan.
The AMP-1 production facility has seen significant growth, expanding from approximately 800,000 square feet to over 3.8 million square feet since the start of Lucid Air production two years ago. Phase 2 will be dedicated to producing Lucid's second flagship EV, the Gravity SUV. It includes a stamping machine and a second body shop, allowing for in-house production of supply chain storage and powertrains.
The ceremony, attended by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and US Representative Juan Ciscomani, celebrated the on-schedule expansion and showcased Lucid Motors' commitment to advancing its electric vehicle production capabilities.
During the celebration at Lucid Motors' AMP-1 production facility, CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson expressed gratitude to the entire Lucid team for their efforts in achieving the milestone. The applause from the gathered crowd highlighted the company's achievements, particularly in the specs of the Lucid Air sedan, which, even in its lowest trim level, boasts better range (419) than its "closest competitor" (hinting at Tesla).
Rawlinson also generated excitement when discussing the performance and market potential of the Gravity SUV. He confirmed the existence of a third Lucid model in development, emphasizing that it will be a mid-size electric vehicle (EV) and the company's first model targeting mass-market appeal. Furthermore, he emphasized that this new EV will directly compete with Tesla, specifically targeting the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover. The confirmation underscores Lucid Motors' ambition to expand its presence in the competitive electric vehicle market.
Lucid’s mid-size Tesla competitor coming, but a ways away
Following the event, all I wanted to talk about was a more inexpensive Lucid model, albeit there were plenty of other sights and people to talk to to whet my curiosity even more.
Derek Jenkins, Lucid's senior vice president of design and brand, for example, showed me around the Gravity SUV from the inside out, which I will elaborate on in a future article. But while Jenkins and I sat in the front seat of Lucid's second model, he provided some morsels about what we may expect to see on what we term "project mid-size."
Mid-size is a super exciting program. The whole point of all of this is to establish ourselves in this luxury segment and then take all the attributes, all the capability, and a version of the technology and go mainstream. That’s what that car represents, and it has all of that, surprisingly. So stay tuned. We’re going to say as much as we can as soon as we can, but I will say the design is fairly solidified at this point, but there are still things being reviewed,
Before my tour of AMP-1 Phase 2, I had a few minutes to speak with Peter Rawlinson, who quickly reminded me that he had met his deadlines to deploy Air and triple the size of AMP-1 by 2024. His next promise? "Gravity is going to be awesome."
From what we've seen so far, it appears to be another piece of art in terms of design, luxury, and, most notably, efficiency - not just in terms of kWh, but also in space use and overall SUV optimization.
While most of Rawlinson's early conversation was regurgitated specs from the presentation or facts found on Lucid's website, the CTO and CEO have a "er" mindset at their heart. As in, offering automobiles that drive quicker, travel further, endure longer, and finally cost less. Rawlinson discussed that idea with me the last time we were in Arizona together, following the start of Air production, saying that he recognizes that the company's cars are pricey, but that has never been the final goal.
The idea is to leverage the optimized technology and (hopefully) earnings from higher-end model sales to create a fully scaled, mass-market EV that everyone can enjoy. That's a similar strategy used by America's favorite EV, Tesla, with the Model 3, years after Rawlinson left after working on the Model S.
With Gravity manufacturing set to begin this year and a third EV model design "fairly solidified," Lucid is now targeting a far larger segment of Tesla-interested buyers, and its CEO is frank about it. Rawlinson was describing Lucid's second AMP factory, which would be built in Saudi Arabia and have a capacity of 150,000 units yearly. According to Electrek's discussion with the CEO, it will also house the manufacture of the new mid-size vehicle.
‘Mid-size’ is going to be our more affordable car – more of a (Tesla) Model 3, Model Y competitor. That’s coming in just a few years time. It already exists in a design studio, and it’s already with advanced engineering. I’m already working on ‘mid-size’ as I am on Gravity, on the technical side.
When asked if Lucid's Mid-size vehicle will continue to target the same audience and pricing range as the Tesla vehicle 3 and Model Y, Rawlinson affirmed and provided the following:
Our mid-size is, for the first time, its overtly going to be a Tesla competitor. Its going to be the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. It’s our big volume platform and we’re going to do this and this is a few years from now.
I want to be very clear about that – we may be Mercedes’ competitors today, but we’re going Model 3 and Model Y.
"Years away" feels like a decade in the ultra-fast world of EV development, and Lucid will most likely have to take a few more hits before reaching scaled production of "project mid-size" (remember, the Model 3 nearly bankrupted Tesla).
Gravity's performance is crucial for Lucid, both in terms of sales and brand reputation. It aims to increase customer interest in Air and the forthcoming mid-size EV.
There's nothing to fear about for Tesla fans just yet; Lucid still has work to do, but competition drives innovation, and it's encouraging to see another American carmaker focusing on great inexpensive EVs. Let's hope it delivers.
Bonus question: What do you think "mid-size" will be called? I'm banking on "arcane" or "ether," because "Ocean" has already been taken. Hey, those may at least be better code names than "Project mid-size."
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