As the auto industry moves toward electrification, the cost to produce EVs remains high compared to internal-combustion engines (ICE) due to new manufacturing processes and increasing material costs, according to Autoweek.
That cost is set into the retail price of every electric vehicle on the market right now, with legacy manufacturers hoping to recover costs from early adopters willing to pay upmarket expenses.
There could only be so many $100,000 electric vehicles out there, and Lucid Motors jumped onto the electric luxury performance a little later.
The California-based EV manufacturer continues to move gradually through its backlog of 34,000 orders. Gradual enough that the automaker offers discounts to consumers who previously withdrew their orders.
Lucid offering the original legacy pricing of Lucid Air Grand Touring
According to Barrons, Lucid sent an email to consumers with lapsed orders stating the company would reinstate these orders at the original $139,000 legacy pricing for the Lucid Air Grand Touring.
That’s a 10% discount from the $154,000 current pricing. This same email notes that reinstated orders can be completed in a few weeks as the brand works to complete 7,000 orders by the end of 2022. For background, it had delivered less than 4,000 units by the end of September.
$18,000 discount for employees
Notably, the brand has begun an employee-purchase program, in which employees will get an $18,000 discount on the Air model.
If the purchasing employee can take delivery before December 31, the carmaker will set an extra $500 every pay period until the total amount reaches $18,000, as per Business Insider.
Despite the slower-than-anticipated delivery rate, the company’s sales have been trending on the right track, as the company website currently features delivery-ready models.
Incentivizing consumers by offering a subsidized 2.81% yearly interest rate by in-house financing is not too low either. With average car loan rates trending to two figures, this rate would equate to paying $15,000 less in interest.
However, it remains to be seen how many people have $150,000 to spare on a luxury electric vehicle, with the overall auto market and economic trends showing these consumers are rare.
Stock prices down 54% in the last six months
Meanwhile, stock prices fell 54% in the past six months, and the company is on a path to burning billions of production dollars. The true indicator of a positive investment from a customer standpoint is the model’smodel’s market value.
Bring A Trailer auction site
Furthermore, used sales on auction sites like Bring A Trailer show 2022 model-year Lucids with less than 500 miles (804 km) sold for $118,000, while another identical unit with only 200 miles (321 km) sold for $124,500. In other words, both sold for less than the model costs from the dealership.
As the company steadily ramps up production at its Casa Grande, Arizona factory and construction starts at its Saudi Arabia plant, the rate of deliveries should increase significantly, growing revenue by $3.2 billion, according to the estimates.
That number rests on the automaker adding or maintaining its 34,000 current orders. The addition of Instagram advertisements indicates that Lucid wants to do just that.
However, in a high-priced market dominated by Tesla, companies are continuously in a rising battle. As manufacturers work to make electric vehicles more accessible, the cost of Lucid’sLucid’s Air sedan and the upcoming Gravity SUV can make these models far into the average in the future.
