Lucid confirmed its intentions for a $50,000 (or cheaper) car several times this year, most recently telling CarBuzz that a luxury pickup was not as high on its list of priorities as a mid-size vehicle for the masses. As for when we can expect to see such a product, Rawlinson said, “I’ve formally stated mid-late decade, and that has been completely misquoted as the end of the decade – 2030. What I mean is ‘not 2025.’ It’s a few years away, but it’s close. It takes three and a half years to do a car, and we’ve [already] started… and that wasn’t yesterday.”
Rawlinson may have been the chief engineer of the Tesla Model S, and many, therefore, wrongly assume that the Air is a rival to that car, but it’s far more luxurious and technologically advanced, hence its much higher price. But now Lucid is taking direct aim at Elon Musk’s company for the first time.