Lucid Pushes Back Gravity SUV Debut Amid Supply Chain Woes
The company has seen sinking stock prices and production woes for the Air, but it's already planning to expand production.
Luxury EV startup Lucid has had a rough go of it since it put its Air sedan into production. It planned to deliver 500 examples of the high-end Tesla Model S competitor by the end of 2021, but it was only able to crank out 150 due to global supply chain issues. Those problems aren't going away anytime soon and, according to a report published by Bloomberg on Monday, the lingering effects are going to cause even more issues.
Specifically, Lucid's planned electric SUV, called the Gravity, is getting pushed back from 2023 to 2024, though, honestly, we'd be surprised if it didn't end up getting pushed further. After all, Lucid is a new company, and it's seemingly got a ways to go to get to full-scale production on its current model, so speedbumps seem likely to occur.
However, those potential issues haven't stopped the company from thinking about expansion. Word 'round the campfire is that it recently purchased land in Saudi Arabia (Lucid is 60% owned by the Saudi Arabia Wealth Fund) for a second factory before its first factory in Arizona is even fully finished. It's not clear whether that second factory will be for new models or just to expand production and reduce shipping costs for non-US vehicles.
The other big problem caused by these production issues and supply-chain problems is a dip in stock prices. Lucid's shares fell by 13% before the start of trading on Tuesday morning, and that's part of an overall 24% drop since the beginning of 2022. It's not great, but it's also important to remember that current stock market superstar Tesla struggled for years before turning a profit and seeing its shares soar, so let's not count Lucid out yet.
We reached out to Lucid for comment but didn't hear back in time for publication.
