Lucid raises prices of its EVs as company struggles with production

Lucid Motors is raising the prices of its luxury electric vehicles, as the company struggles with production. The company reported delivering only 360 vehicles to customers in the first quarter of 2022.

As of June 1, Lucid's newly increased prices will be $154,000 (up from $139,000 previously), $107,400 (up from $95,000) for Air Grand Touring, and $87,400 (up from $80,000) for Air Pure. This shows an average growth of around 11 per cent. The new Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance model, which was announced just two weeks ago, will cost $179,000. (All Lucid vehicles are eligible for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, as well as any available state and local incentives.)

In a call with investors, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the company would respect base prices for existing reservation holders, addressing a key point when Rivian announced similar price hikes.

"The world has changed dramatically since Lucid Air was first announced in September 2020," Rawlinson said on the call. “And I would like to assure our existing reservation holders that we will honor the existing pricing for all existing customers as well as new reservations made before the end of the month. To ensure fairness and priority, we will reach out to reservation holders to facilitate order configuration to lock pricing when their specified models are available.

The company reported a loss of $81 million in the first quarter of 2022 on sales of $58 million. Last year, when the company's revenue was nearly zero, Lucid reported a loss of $2.9 billion.

Lucid also said that the number of reservations for its luxury Lucid Air sedan has now exceeded 30,000, reflecting $2.9 billion in potential sales. The company had earlier said that it has got 25,000 reservations.

Lucid has struggled to get cars off the factory floor amid a supply chain crisis and other disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last quarter, the California-based company Newark announced that it was revising its annual production expectations to 12,000 vehicles from the original forecast of 20,000 vehicles.

Rollinson also touted a 100,000 vehicle purchase agreement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He said, “This is one of the largest electric vehicle purchases that I am aware of and we are delighted to support Saudi Arabia in achieving its sustainability goals and net zero ambitions by bringing its advanced luxury EVs to Saudi Arabia. "

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is the majority owner of Lucid, after investing $1 billion in the company in 2017. Lucid said it has $5.4 billion in cash reserves to keep it running until 2023.