Lucid will promote as much as 100,000 EVs to the Saudi authorities | Engadget

Luxury EV maker Lucid Group has struck a deal to promote the federal government of Saudi Arabia as much as 100,000 autos over the following ten years, it announced. The kingdom’s Ministry of Finance will purchase at the very least 50,000 Air sedans and upcoming fashions from now till 2032, with an choice to purchase one other 50,000 over the identical interval. 

Saudi Arabia’s public wealth fund invested $1 billion in Lucid in 2018 and owns a 62 percent stake within the firm. The order will embody autos from Lucid’s current Arizona manufacturing facility and a brand new one deliberate for Saudi Arabia. It’ll begin subsequent yr with gross sales between 1,000 and a couple of,000 autos yearly and ramp as much as 4,000-7,000 per yr in 2025, based on Lucid. 

Lucid lately launched its first car into manufacturing, the $169,000 Air Dream Edition Performance sedan with 1,111 horsepower and 450 miles of vary. The Air Grand Touring mannequin will present up later for $139,000, adopted by the $95,000 Air Touring and at last the bottom, sub-$80,000 Air. However, costs may even embody “logistics and importation costs, and other costs of delivering and homologating vehicles to regulations of Saudi Arabia,” based on Lucid. 

“We are delighted to be supporting Saudi Arabia in achieving its sustainability goals and net zero ambitions, as outlined by Saudi Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative, by bringing our advanced luxury EVs to Saudi Arabia,” mentioned Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson. 

However, as a part of these initiatives, the dominion additionally plans to proceed drilling for oil in what it calls a “circular carbon economy.” Critics have slammed that as greenwashing, citing latest UN experiences stating that “time is running out” and that fossil gasoline growth is “dangerously out of sync” with local weather change targets.