Lucid Motors has admitted that it needs more money to bring its impressive all-electric Air sedan to the market.
The startup originally planned on launching the Air in late 2018 but now says that the car will arrive in 2019. In the meantime, it is preparing to break ground on a $700 million plant in Arizona.
Speaking to Automotive News, Lucid chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson said that Lucid needs to secure its latest round of financing before moving forward.
“We don’t have the money in place. That’s why we need to secure Series D in order to execute this.
“It would be irresponsible to start moving earth or start anything until we have a financial runway to execute that professionally and with absolute integrity,” Rawlinson said.
Despite the delay, Lucid remains confident with its first production vehicle, as Rawlinson said he has hired many ex-employees he used to work with at Tesla when engineering the Model S.
“I have secured many of my key players. All my vehicle directors that report to me were with me at Tesla on Model S. So the team that’s doing this knows how to do it.”
When the Lucid Air reaches the market, entry-level models will start at around $52,500 after federal tax credits, making it significantly more affordable than the Model S. The company will also produce a 1,000 hp variant with a 400 mile (643 km) range that will cost well over $100,000.
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