American electric car manufacturer ✓ White Motors has announced a significant price increase for its Air sedan, effective June 1. Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 under the name “Atieva” and initially focused on producing batteries and electric vehicles for other electric vehicles. The company renamed itself Lucid Motors in October 2016 and introduced the first Lucid Air prototype the same year.
Lucid Air’s development began in 2014, when the company, still known as Atieva, decided to build its own electric car. The resulting Air sedan entered production in late 2021 and is currently on sale with multiple avatars and multiple prices. The Air sedan competes with other full-size hatchback, all-electric sedans, including the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan, Mercedes-Benz EQS and the recently announced luxury sedan BMW i7 xDrive60 7 Series.
According to Lucid Motors, it will increase the price of the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan starting next month. The price increase will be reflected in three of the four car models and will take effect on June 1. However, this will not affect existing reservation owners who can still purchase the car at the original price. The company does not state a specific reason for the price increase, although it does say so. “The world has changed dramatically since we announced Lucid Air pricing in September 2020.” The main reason for the increase is believed to be input costs, which have risen significantly over the past year, partly due to the Covid supply crisis and partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
New prices on Lucid Air
After the price increase, the Lucid Air ‘Pure’ base will cost $87,400, which is exactly $10,000 more than its previous price of $77,400. The “Touring” option now costs $107,400 instead of the original $95,000. Finally, the Grand Touring version will cost $154,000 starting next month, up $15,000 from its previous price of $139,000. The only option to survive the price hike is the “Performance” version of the Lucid Air Grand Touring, which will cost $179,000. For reference, these are base prices up to a potential US federal tax credit of $7,500, excluding taxes, titles, licenses, options, and destination fees. Updated pricing for Canada will be posted on the company’s Canadian website on June 1.
Lucid’s decision to raise the price of its flagship EV came just weeks after Tesla’s last price hike, meaning cheaper models would no longer be eligible for discounts in California. After rising demand due to rising gas prices, Tesla raised prices for all EV models by $10,000 in March, the second time the company has raised prices in less than a month. After all the price increases, the base version of Model 3 now costs $46,990. Electric car maker Rivian also announced a price hike earlier this year, pushing the price of the R1T pickup truck from $67,500 to $79,500, and the price of the R1S SUV from $70,000 to $84,500. These prices are still significantly lower than the prices ✓ White Air, making them relatively more common.
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
