Lucid Motors marked the official start of construction for its Casa Grande electric vehicle manufacturing facility Dec. 2, with a ceremony attended by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and other state and local officials, along with a prototype of a very special car.
Lucid dubbed the event a “ground-building” to symbolize its long-term commitment to the City and surrounding region and incorporated the planting of a tree at the site where the factory is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2020.
As soon as the $300 million project is finished, the facility will start churning out Lucid Airs, an all-electric luxury sedan with a range of 400 miles per charge.
“The Lucid Air is a cutting-edge electric vehicle designed, engineered and destined for manufacture entirely in America,” said Lucid Motors CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson.
He added, “We are proud to be moving forward on our commitment to manufacturing the Lucid Air in Casa Grande. With supportive investors, an outstanding team of designers and engineers, and a product strategy that extends well beyond the Air, we expect today to be just the start of a long-standing presence in this dynamic City.”
Ducey said in his remarks at the ceremony, “Attracting a high-tech automotive manufacturer like Lucid Motors to Arizona is a testament to the talent, business environment and geographic location our state has to offer innovative companies to help them succeed.”
Lucid chose the location at Peters and Thornton roads for its factory after an extensive search across more than 60 sites, according to the governor’s office. Lucid selected Arizona based upon numerous positive factors, including business climate, infrastructure, talent, geographic location and the automotive supply chain in the Arizona-Sonora region.
The site selection was originally announced in November 2016 with production scheduled to start a year later, before Lucid Motors ran into financing issues. Grading began on the site in September 2019, the same month the startup signed a more than $1 billion investment agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, providing the funding to build the facility and commercially launch the Air.
Lucid Motors is expected to have a broad economic impact on Pinal County, creating 2,000 direct jobs by the mid-2020s. By the end of 2029, it’s projected to create approximately 4,800 direct and indirect jobs.
Lucid will have put $700 million in capital investment into its Casa Grande operations by the mid-2020s, as well as new training programs at local community college campuses. Its overall economic impact is projected to be $32 billion over the next 20 years.
“We are pleased that a company on the cutting edge of technology and innovation such as Lucid chose to build their manufacturing facility in Casa Grande,” said Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland. “Not only will Lucid bring thousands of good-paying jobs to the area, but it also anchors our efforts to attract additional high-tech businesses to the region and develop a highly skilled workforce for advanced manufacturing.”
Lucid Motors is headquartered in Silicon Valley in Newark, California, and held its first “supplier summit” there Dec. 12, with representatives from more than 100 potential vendors attending. The company is taking reservations for the first Lucid Airs at www.lucidmotors.com.
