Lucid says he is on track to build 20,000 electric vehicles next year; strengthens the balance sheet

As of Monday’s close, the company had a market cap of around $ 73 billion, although it generates meager revenue. In 2018, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund invested more than $ 1 billion in the startup, breathing new life into a company that had struggled to progress to this point.

Lucid is seen as a potential competitor to Tesla Inc. after demonstrating battery technology that can rival the performance of existing vehicles in the market. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson was previously chief engineer of Tesla’s Model S sedan.

The startup’s first quarterly earnings report comes less than a week after a initial public offering of another electric vehicle newcomer, Rivian Automotive Inc. That list was the sixth-largest in U.S. history, even though the company has only made a handful of vehicles so far, with deliveries largely going to employees.

Like Rivian, Lucid didn’t start production until September and began limited deliveries of its first electric vehicle to customers on October 31. The company’s short-term goal is to deliver less than 600 units of a limited edition Dream Edition Air priced at $ 169,000 and is capable of traveling 520 miles on a single charge. The company is also starting to deliver a lower performance version of its Air vehicle that costs $ 139,000.

Lucid makes its cars at a factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, which it built in less than a year and started operating in 2020.