Tesla rival, Lucid Motors is coming to Arizona

Photo courtesy of Lucid Motors

Lucid Motors announced a $1 billion investment to build a factory in Casa Grande.

The luxury mobility company entered the billion-dollar agreement with the Public Invest Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. The money will be used to “complete engineering development and testing of the Lucid Air, construct its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, begin the global rollout of its retail strategy starting in North America, and enter production for the Lucid Air.”

“By investing in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, PIF is gaining exposure to long-term growth opportunities, supporting innovation and technological development and driving revenue and sectoral diversification for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” a spokesperson for PIF said in Lucid’s press release.

Lucid and Governor Doug Ducey originally announced the company’s plan to create an electric car manufacturing operation in Casa Grande two years ago, stating that the facility would break ground in 2017. However, the project was put on hold but plans are back on track.

The company selected Arizona after searching 60 sites across 13 states because of “numerous positive factors including business climate, infrastructure, talent, geographic location, and the automotive supply chain in the Arizona-Sonora Megaregion.”

“Lucid Motors’ expansion into Casa Grande is the latest evidence that Arizona leads the nation in attracting innovative technology companies to our state,” Governor Ducey said in his 2016 press release.

“This project will create thousands of new direct jobs, support many more indirect jobs, and attract new suppliers to the Casa Grande region. I thank Lucid Motors for its commitment to Arizona, as well as Sonora’s Governor Claudia Pavlovich, Senator McCain, Senator Flake, the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pinal County, and the City of Casa Grande for the hard work and collaboration that helped make this happen.”

Lucid was founded by multiple former-Tesla employees who wanted to reimagine “what a car can be.” Their mission is that in creating the “most captivating luxury electric vehicles” the company will inspire the adoption of sustainable energy.

“The convergence of new technologies is reshaping the automobile, but the benefits have yet to be truly realized. 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,” Peter Rawlinson, Chief Technology Officer of Lucid, said in the release.

In 2016, the facility was expected to bring more than 2,000 new jobs and roughly $700 million in capital investment to the region by 2022. In Monday’s statement, the company said it will launch their first car, the Lucid Air, in 2020.