EV maker Lucid opens first overseas factory in Saudi Arabia

California-based company aims to increase capacity from 5,000 to 155,000 units a year at Jeddah plant

Lucid's AMP-2 manufacturing plant near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 'will pave the way for expansion of our supply chain', the group said. Photo: Lucid Group

Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has opened its first international manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to produce 155,000 electric vehicles a year.

Backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the California-based company has started assembly of its first luxury sedan – Lucid Air – at the factory near Jeddah, Lucid Group said in a statement on Wednesday.

The plant in the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is Lucid’s second advanced manufacturing plant (AMP-2), with the first (AMP-1) in Arizona, the company said.

The AMP-2 has the capacity to assemble "5,000 Lucid vehicles annually" on a semi knocked-down basis. Currently, it reassembles Lucid Air vehicle kits that are pre-manufactured at AMP-1.

“As Saudi [Arabia] charges towards its Vision 2030, our facility will pave the way for the country’s electric automotive industry and the expansion of the supply chain,” said Peter Rawlinson, Lucid's chief executive and chief technology officer.

The move will "support the country's vision for a more sustainable and diversified economy”.

Electric vehicles will make up about half of the new car sales worldwide by 2035, as the push for net-zero carbon emissions accelerates, Goldman Sachs says.

Electric car markets are experiencing exponential growth, with sales exceeding 10 million last year, a report by the International Energy Agency said. A total of 14 per cent of all new cars sold were electric in 2022, up from about 9 per cent in 2021 and less than 5 per cent the previous year, it said.

In the first quarter of this year, more than 2.3 million electric cars were sold globally, about 25 per cent more than in the same period last year, the agency said.

Lucid was founded in 2007. In 2018, the PIF invested more than $1 billion in the company to acquire a substantial stake, helping to accelerate its manufacturing plans. Lucid became the first EV start-up to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company in July 2021.

The plant at KAEC is also expected to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s strategic goal to transform and diversify its economy through the development of sustainable energy and transport, Lucid said.

“AMP-2 in KAEC … gives us the ability to efficiently fulfil the recently signed agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia to purchase up to 100,000 vehicles over a 10-year period, with an initial commitment to purchase 50,000 vehicles and an option to purchase up to an additional 50,000 vehicles over the same period,” said Faisal Sultan, vice president and managing director Middle East at Lucid Group.

In March last year, US-listed Lucid signed agreements with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund and KAEC for the factory.

Lucid plans a phased global expansion with Saudi Arabia – the Arab world’s largest economy. Bloomberg

Peter Rawlinson, chief technology officer for Lucid Motors Inc.

Lucid was founded in 2007 under the name Atieva and was initially focused on building EV batteries.

In 2016, it rebranded as Lucid Motors, moved away from being a supplier and pivoted towards making a rival luxury sedan to Tesla.

In 2018, the PIF invested more than $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in Lucid for a majority stake in the company and to help accelerate the manufacturing of its first EV.

Lucid aims to produce up to 8,000 units of Air from its Arizona facility next year and then increase that to 25,000 and 34,000 in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Other investors of Lucid include Tokyo-based Mitsui and California’s venture capitalist Venrock.

The company claims Air will be the fastest-charging EV in the market, with a charging speed of more than 32 kilometres per minute, under controlled conditions.

The company aims to step up production to 150,000 units annually by the later half of this decade, when it plans to produce complete vehicles at the Saudi plant, it said.

Lucid also expects to employ “hundreds of Saudi nationals in the first few years and eventually grow the workforce into the thousands”, through an agreement with the kingdom’s Human Resources Development Fund.