Saudi Arabia to Buy Up to 100,000 EVs from Startup Lucid

Saudi Arabia plans to purchase 50,000 to 100,000 electric vehicles from Lucid Group Inc., backed by the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, over the next decade to step up automakers' efforts to increase revenue.

The Saudi government said the decision was in line with efforts to make its fleet more environment-friendly and to diversify its national economy away from oil. According to the government, Lucid was chosen because the company is building a complete production plant in Saudi Arabia. This is the first international manufacturing facility that aims to produce 150,000 vehicles annually.

Lucido committed to building an assembly plant here after receiving over $1 billion from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in 2018. This can cost hundreds of millions of dollars or more. Saudi Arabia's investment fund saw a $20 billion return on investment last year when Lucid was unveiled through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

Orders will increase from 1,000 to 2,000 units a year from 2023 to 4,000 to 7,000 per year units by 2025. Lucido began shipping its first all-electric air sedan in October. This model is considered by many in the industry to be Tesla's direct competitor. In late 2023, it plans to introduce a second model, a battery-powered SUV called Gravity.