Lucid EV production begins, company says deliveries to start in October

Lucid LCID, -5.21% opened its plant in Casa Grande, Ariz., to the media and others on Tuesday, saying it has more than 13,000 reservations for its Lucid Air sedan. The company is producing 520 of its Lucid Air Dream Edition models, which cost $169,000, first. According to a news release, reservation holders for both the special edition model and the Lucid Air, which starts at about $74,000, will begin receiving their vehicles in late October.

Lucid says its vehicles have a single-charge range of 520 miles, “more than 100 miles over its closest competitor.” That competitor is Tesla Inc.’s TSLA, -1.74% Model S Long Range, which that company says can go about 420 miles on a single charge.

Deliveries of Lucid’s Grand Touring, Touring, and Air Pure models are expected to follow the initial rollout, the company said.

Shares of the Lucid, which went public in July via a merger with a blank-check company, have risen 145% year to date but have decreased about 9% in the past three months.