As sedans go, the new Lucid Air is roomy, electric and luxurious. And its founders showed some moxie, debuting the car in Fremont, home of the factory of its intended rival, Tesla Motors.
Startup Lucid Motors on Wednesday afternoon unveiled its prototype sedan — a 1,000-horsepower, 300 mile-per-charge, battery-powered car with a sticker price of about $85,000.
“Lucid will be a new kind of luxury experience,” said Derek Jenkins, vice president of design. The sleek curves and ample interior, inspired by luxury jets, seek to fuse high-tech with beautiful automotive design, he said.
Lucid joins a rapidly growing field of competitors to Tesla in the electric vehicle market. Most automakers are moving aggressively to add all-electric vehicles to their lineups. Lucid is aiming at high-end customers looking for an electric version that would entice shoppers of various Mercedes models.
On Tuesday, GM took a swipe at Tesla’s claim to the budget end of the all-electric fleet. The automaker also went to Fremont to deliver its first Chevy Bolts to three Silicon Valley customers.
The $37,500 Bolt offers 238 miles of range on a single charge — farther than the early range estimates for Tesla’s similarly priced Model 3, due out late next year. Motor Trend chose the Chevy Bolt as its Car of the Year.
A Tesla spokesperson did not return an email seeking comment.
Lucid was founded in 2007 by former Tesla and Oracle executives as a battery company. Formerly...