Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund agreed yesterday to invest $1bn or more in Lucid Motors, a US-based luxury electric vehicle developer that counts diversified conglomerate Mitsui as an investor.
Originally founded as an advanced battery developer called Atieva before shifting focus in 2016, Lucid is working on an all-electric luxury four-door sedan called the Lucid Air that is expected to have a range of 400 miles per charge.
The Lucid Air will also incorporate features such as voice-activated controls and software that will be able to be updated regularly, meaning the car would be able to advance through consecutive stages of autonomy.
The sovereign wealth fund will make the investment through a special purpose vehicle, and the funding is intended to support a launch of the Lucid Air that is expected to take place in 2020. O’Melveny was legal adviser for Lucid on the deal.
More specifically, the capital will be used to finish developing and testing the car, to complete construction of an Arizona production plant, begin manufacturing of the vehicle and fine tune Lucid’s retail strategy.
Peter Rawlinson, Lucid’s chief technology officer, said: “The convergence of new technologies is reshaping the automobile, but the benefits have yet to be truly realised.
“This is inhibiting the pace at which sustainable mobility and energy are adopted. At Lucid, we will demonstrate the full potential of the electric connected vehicle in order to push the industry forward.”
Lucid secured $7.1m in 2009 from China Environment Fund III, a fund managed by venture capital firm Venrock and university research manager Tsinghua Holdings’ Tsing Capital unit, before adding $24m from Venrock, Tsing Capital and Mitsui two years later.
The company received a further $100m from a single investor in 2014, according to a securities filing, and a Reuters report in 2016 stated it had raised “several hundred million dollars” from investors including Mitsui and Venrock.
– Photo courtesy of Lucid Motors, Inc.