Lucid’s $50,000 EV Is Coming. It Doesn’t Plan To Go Much Cheaper Than That

• Lucid Motors is gearing up to launch its most affordable model yet.
• The upcoming car is expected to be a mid-size SUV that will cost roughly $50,000.
• Two more mid-size models will follow, but Lucid has no plans to boost its sales figures by offering cheap cars.

Lucid Motors, the company behind the Air and Gravity EVs, is known for two things: it’s a low-volume manufacturer, and the cars it makes are expensive. And while the California-based automaker is working hard to lose its startup status, becoming a company that makes cheap cars is not on the timeline.

Lucid’s current models start from roughly $71,000 and go all the way to $250,000. That will change later this year, when the company’s first mid-size model will start rolling off the assembly line. With an estimated price of around $50,000, the car, which is expected to be a mid-size SUV similar to the Tesla Model Y,will take Lucid into a completely new market and price segment, but the company has made it clear that it won’t go lower than this.

A teaser of Lucid’s first mid-size EV shows a crossover-like silhouette.

Photo by: Lucid Motors

“Luxury manufacturer–that’s where we plan to be,” said Lucid Motors CEO Marc Winterhoff at the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco in late January. “Call it luxury/premium. Right now, we don’t have plans to go into, let’s say, lower cost vehicles around $30,000, $35,000, something like that.”

With an estimated price of $50,000, Lucid’s first mid-size electric car will battle it out with the Tesla Model Y, Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW iX3, Volvo EX60 and upcoming Rivian R2. It’s the toughest segment out there, but Lucid’s head honcho is confident that the company–and the car–has what it takes to succeed.

The price tag targeted by the company’s first mid-size model “is exactly the average of the U.S. car market, not only EVs, but also the internal combustion engines,” Winterhoff added. “So yes, we are targeting a much bigger market.”

Production of Lucid’s most affordable car is scheduled to kick off late this year, with the company’s factory in Saudi Arabia pivotal to the model’s chances of success worldwide. The automaker plans on exporting Saudi-made cars to Europe and Asia, while its American factory will presumably focus on the domestic market. Currently, the Saudi Arabia plant assembles Air sedans from knock-down kits. 

“In the future, the plant that we’re building in Saudi Arabia will not only fulfill the local demand. It’s also for export, so we’re planning to export from there into Europe, into Asia and other countries,“ said Marc Winterhoff.

Lucid’s mid-size vehicle platform will spawn three distinct models. The first one is expected to be a crossover. The second model will debut in early 2028, and the third one will come 18 months later, Winterhoff told InsideEVs earlier this year at a roundtable with reporters at CES 2026. This being said, Lucid doesn’t want to make a sedan in this segment, so don’t expect a Tesla Model 3 or BMW i3 competitor.

Last year, the California EV startup bucked the industry trend, posting record production and delivery numbers. The company built 18,378 vehicles, double compared to 2024, and delivered 15,841 cars. While a huge improvement, Lucid still has a long way to go to compete with heavyweights like Tesla and General Motors, and the upcoming mid-size platform might just help it raise the bar.