Although fellow startup electric automaker Faraday Future is facing some difficulties, Lucid Motors has announced its ambitious plan to invest $700 million to build a factory in Arizona.
In a statement, the company said the facility will be constructed in Casa Grande starting in 2017. It is hoped that by 2018, production of the brand’s first model will begin at the factory and that by 2022, there will be over 2,000 full-time employees working at the site.
According to Brian Barron, the brand’s director of global manufacturing, “We chose Arizona because you showed genuine interest in our company from the outset. Readiness was a key focus during the site selection process and this site is truly ready to go, with the required infrastructure and site attributes.”
At a press conference announcing the plan, Lucid Motors said that it looked at 60 possible sites across the country before settling on the 500-acre site in Arizona.
The first model to be produced at the factory will be the sedan recently revealed as a camo’d prototype at the LA Auto Show. Codenamed Atvus, the model will rival the likes of the Tesla Model S, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series. It will apparently have the equivalent of 1,000 hp on tap, courtesy of two powerful electric motors.
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