American premium electric carmaker Lucid opened its first retail and delivery center in Europe in Hilversum near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last week.

Now Lucid says delivery of the limited series of the Lucid Air Dream Edition to selected clients in Germany and the Netherlands has started. The latter just got its WLTP range rating of 883 km, the longest range for an EV in Europe.

Still, no European prices are communicated, and it remains to guess what you’re actually going to pay for it after reserving your car for €300 for the Pure to €900 for a beefier version.

HQ in Amsterdam

Lucid Motors Europe has been registered in the Netherlands (Schiphol) since 2021 and finally established its EU headquarters in Amsterdam instead of Germany.

“The Netherlands is a key market for Lucid because of its high adoption of EVs and very mature charging infrastructure,” said Eric Bach, Senior VP and Chief Engineer of Lucid Group.

On Friday, May 13th, this year, Lucid opened its first ‘Studio’ in Europe to showcase its cars outside the American continent in Munich, Germany. At that time, the company announced it would start delivery in Europe in June or July. But that remained wishful thinking.

Building only 6 000 cars

A few months later, it had to admit it would build only 6 000 to 7 000 cars this year due to production headaches and shortages. Initially, Lucid had forecasted 20 000 Lucid Air sedans for 2022. In February, this was adjusted to 12 to 14 000 and halved again in August.

In Casa Grande, Arizona, the first Lucid Air electric sedans were rolling off the assembly line in September 2021. This so-called Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-1) was constructed in less than a year.

The new factory was designed to allow for growth, from 2,3 square km today to 265 000 square meters by 2023, when Lucid’s SUV Gravity production will start. According to the initial planning, 20 000 cars would be built in 2020, scaling up to 30 000 by 2023 and ramping up to 400 000 a year later.

For those with deep pockets

Among them are the 520 limited series of the Lucid Dream Editon, the ‘ne plus ultra’ in the model line-up offered exclusively in America at $169 000 and sold out instantly.

The Dream Edition is available in two distinct versions; Performance with 828 kW (1 111 horsepower) and an all-electric driving range of 799 km and the Range. This one focusses on efficiency, with a driving range of up to 883 km (WLTP) and two motors delivering a combined power of 696 kW (933 hp).

A few existing reservation holders in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland were offered a minimal number of cars in May this year for a price of around 220 000 euros. Word is out now that deliveries have finally started.

Premium models first

In Europe, you can choose today between three versions, starting with the Touring ($95 000 in the US). It has 620 hp of electro-power and gets 406 miles (653 km) far on a fully charged battery. The Lucid Air Grand Touring is offered at $139 000.

It has the highest range, reaching 517 miles (832 km). Lucid announced a ‘Performance’ version, delivering 1 050 horsepower and accelerating from 0-60 mph in 2,6 seconds.

The basic model, the Lucid Air Pure, will come last, somewhere in 2023. In America, it’s announced with a price tag of $77 000. And a seven-seater SUV called ‘Gravity Project’ is something one can expect from 2024 on.