While we don’t know exactly what it will look like, Lucid’s small SUV will almost certainly resemble the larger Gravity, shown above.
Lucid is facing serious headwinds to ramp up its ambitious plans over the next couple years, as it posted a $598 million loss for the first-quarter of 2024. Despite delivering 39% more units of its Air sedan than it did this time last year (up to 1,967 examples), that relatively small delivery scale and current share prices hovering around $2.60, the market is clearly waiting for the EV startup to make good on its plans to rollout the Gravity SUV later this year. (Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson says the company is still on track to do that.)
On the earnings call, Rawlinson also confirmed another “high-volume”, smaller SUV to follow the Gravity. Due out in late 2026, this SUV — which may become the “Earth”, based on recent filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) discovered by InsideEVs — will ostensibly help Lucid turn a profit by pitching it into direct competition with Tesla at two points in the contentious crossover market. When it does arrive, Lucid’s new model will start “around $48,000”.
“I’m confident that we can achieve unrivaled levels of efficiency for this crucial mid-size class vehicle”, Rawlinson told reporters on the call. When the company does make its way to serial production, it will build customer-bound units at its Advanced Manufacturing Plant 2 (AMP-2) in Saudi Arabia. As such, it’s unlikely the so-called Lucid Earth will have as much of a competitive advantage as the forthcoming Rivian R2 and the Tesla Model Y, as it probably won’t be eligible for the U.S.’ $7,500 federal tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Nevertheless, the company’s plan will bring its price walk closer to Earth (I see what you did there, Lucid) by way of a more affordable entry point. The Air sedan, for its part, starts at $69,900, while the Gravity should start somewhere around $80,000. The company also needs SUVs to thrive in today’s market, as its choice to start large-volume production with a sedan, as Tesla did with the Model S, is not raking in enough cash to make Lucid Motors a profitable venture at this point in time.
We’ll have to see how the Gravity launch proceeds, and if things go well, we may see yet another SUV hit the scenes in a couple years.
