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The next model from the luxury electric vehicle startup Lucid will be an SUV, the company confirmed Wednesday night.
Shortly after the reveal of its first model, the Air 2021 sedan, earlier in the day, Lucid released several teaser photos of the SUV, which the company referred to as Project Gravity.
Lucid Gravity Project
This Project Gravity name suggests that the vehicle in the teasers is a concept version of the planned SUV. But considering that the production version of the Air looks almost identical to its own concept version that was shown in 2017, it’s safe to assume that Lucid’s SUV heading to showrooms will look a lot like the gloomy one shown here.
The news of the SUV is not a surprise. In an interview with Green Vehicle Reports Posted in August, Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said the company was working on an SUV based on the same platform as the Air, and that production would begin in early 2023.
Peter rawlinson
Shortly after the interview, a Lucid SUV, which we now know was Project Gravity, was spotted during a photo shoot. The vehicle features an aesthetic similar to that of the Air sedan, including short overhangs and a low roof with a silver finish.
Lucid won’t stop at a sedan and an SUV. Speaking during the Air reveal, Rawlinson said Lucid plans to explore a “full range of product possibilities” based on the Air platform, a modular design known as LEAP (Lucid Electric Advanced Platform). Lucid designed the platform and many of its components in-house.
Lucid Air platform
And we can expect some wild numbers from the platform-based models. Recall, the top version of the Air, the Dream Edition, will cover 517 miles on one charge, recover up to 300 miles on just a 20-minute quick charge, and run the quarter mile in 9.9 seconds. While the SUV numbers are likely to be less impressive due to the lower efficiency of an SUV’s body style, they are likely to outperform anything in today’s market.
It’s too early to talk about pricing, but Lucid has hinted that as it launches more models and builds economies of scale, it may lower its prices. The Air is destined to be one of the most expensive sedans on the market. It launches next spring in the top version of the Dream Edition range, which starts at $ 169,000. A Grand Touring model will come next summer with a price tag of $ 139,000. A base Touring model is planned with a starting price of just under $ 80,000, though it doesn’t expire until 2022.
