The Public Investment Fund, which is the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, announced that it had completed a serious investment in Lucid Motors.
If the name Lucid Motors does not sound familiar, it’s because they haven’t yet made any big ripples on the market. Yet.
The company was founded in 2007 in Silicon Valley by former Tesla Motors Board Director Bernard Tse. At the time, it had assured the support of Chinese investors like Jia Yueting.
With the massive capital coming in from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Lucid, still in its start-up phase, can now define with more certainty the plans for the launch of its first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air, which should arrive on the market in 2020.
Following the news, the Tesla shares have reached a record decline of 2% and then a further -0.1% on the 294.84 dollar share.
The Public Investment Fund already holds 5% of the Tesla capital and overall the country has been investing heavily in the past few years in electric vehicles in an attempt to diversify, due to its dependence on oil.
Peter Rawlinson, who is Lucid’s Chief Technology Officer, also worked for Tesla, serving as vice president and engineer. He helped create the design of the Model S. Rawlinson eventually left the company in 2012. He plans for the Lucid Air to offer the luxuries that the Model S is lacking.
The prices for the vehicle are expected to start at $60,000, though, with added options, it could go as high as $10,000.
With names like Byton and General Motors embracing the electric vehicle alongside Tesla and at least a handful of others, the market is slowly but surely getting more crowded.
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