Lucid Motors Finally Gearing Up for Production

Just last month, Elon Musk was claiming the Saudis were willing to invest in taking Tesla private. His tweet triggered an SEC investigation and huge public backlash, especially when it was revealed the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund actually were planning to put their money on rival Lucid Motors. On Sept. 17, the deal was made official.

The Saudis signed an agreement to sink over $1 billion in Lucid Motors, a company most people have never heard about before. That might seem crazy, but Lucid has been building a solid foundation for years now, instead of tweeting that cave divers are pedophiles.

That money will be used to launch the Lucid Air, an all-electric sedan that should hit the market in 2020. Production will be done at a facility in Arizona, and the starting price should be about $60,000. Like Tesla, Lucid Motors has fallen behind schedule, but getting a new automaker off the ground isn’t exactly quick or easy.

Not only does Lucid win, so do the Saudis. They’re investing in the future, because oil won’t power the cars of tomorrow. You can argue against that, but signs that we’re moving away from dino juice are growing . That, and oil prices are too unpredictable, so this gives the Saudis a more stable investment.

What does this all mean for Tesla? Nobody really knows, other than yet another competitor. Tesla will really be put to the test, depending on how good the Air is when it debuts.