lcid-20241231
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM10-K
(MARK ONE)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024
or
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number:001-39408
Lucid Group, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
7373 Gateway Boulevard, Newark, CA94560
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
(510) 648-3553
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. xYeso No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. o Yes xNo
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. xYeso No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). xYeso No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated Filer x Accelerated Filer o
Non-accelerated Filer o Smaller Reporting Company o
Emerging Growth Company o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act). o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. x
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. o
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). o Yes x No
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 28, 2024 (the last business day of registrant’s second quarter of fiscal year 2024), was $2.4 billion based upon the last sale price reported for such date on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. Shares of common stock held by each executive officer, director, and holder of 5% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.
Number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding at February 19, 2025: 3,031,499,851
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
Certain portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders (the “Proxy Statement”), to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2024, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”). Except with respect to information specifically incorporated by reference in this Annual Report, the Proxy Statement shall not be deemed to be filed as part hereof.
INDEX TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
FORM 10-K ITEM PAGENUMBER
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS 6
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS 23
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 72
ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY 72
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES 74
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 74
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES 75
PART II
ITEM 6. [RESERVED] 78
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 91
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 93
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 142
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION 142
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTION 142
PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 143
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 143
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 143
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 144
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report contains statements that express our opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “shall,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target,” “continue,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “scheduled” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. They appear in a number of places throughout this Annual Report and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, capital expenditures, prospects, growth, production volumes, strategies, management, and the markets in which we operate, including expectations of financial and operational metrics, projections of market opportunity, market share and product sales, expectations and timing related to commercial product launches, future strategies and products, including with respect to battery and powertrain systems, software, and strategic partnerships, technology features and capabilities, manufacturing capabilities and facilities, studio openings, sales channels and strategies, future vehicle programs, expansion and the potential success of our direct-to-consumer strategy, our financial and operating outlook, future market launches and international expansion, including our manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia and related timing and value to us, our needs for additional financing, our search for a new CEO, and the promise of Lucid’s technology. Such forward-looking statements are based on available current market material and our current expectations, beliefs and forecasts concerning future developments. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include:
•changes in domestic and foreign business, economic, market, financial, political, regulatory and legal conditions, including changes of policies, government closures of banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, imposition of tariffs and threat of a trade war, a potential global economic recession or other downturn and global conflicts or other geopolitical events;
•risks related to changes in overall demand for our products and services and cancellation of orders for our vehicles;
•risks related to prices and availability of commodities, materials, our supply chain, logistics, inventory management and quality control, and our ability to complete the tooling of our manufacturing facilities over time and scale production of our vehicles;
•risks related to the uncertainty of our projected financial and operational information;
•risks related to the timing of expected business milestones and commercial product launches;
•risks related to the expansion of our manufacturing facility, the construction of new manufacturing facilities and the increase of our production capacity;
•our ability to manage expenses and control costs;
•risks related to future market adoption of our offerings;
•the effects of competition and the pace and depth of electric vehicle adoption generally on our business;
•changes in regulatory requirements, policies, and governmental incentives;
•changes in fuel and energy prices;
•our ability to rapidly innovate;
•our ability to enter into or maintain partnerships with original equipment manufacturers, vendors and technology providers, including our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our transaction with Aston Martin;
•our ability to effectively manage our growth and recruit and retain key employees, including our executive team;
•the ongoing need to attract, retain, and motivate key employees, including engineering and management employees, as we have undertaken multiple significant management changes in the last few years, including our CEO;
•risks related to potential vehicle recalls;
•our ability to establish and expand our brand, and capture additional market share, and the risks associated with negative press or reputational harm;
•risks related to our outstanding Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock;
•availability of, and our ability to obtain and effectively utilize, zero emission vehicle credits, tax incentives, and other governmental and regulatory programs and incentives;
•our ability to conduct equity, equity-linked, or debt financing in the future;
•our ability to pay interest and principal on our indebtedness;
•future changes to vehicle specifications which may impact performance, features, pricing, and other expectations;
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•the outcome of any potential litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries; and
•other factors disclosed in this Annual Report or our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on our business. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting our business will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of this Annual Report. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Lucid currently does not know or that Lucid currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect our expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this Annual Report. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this Annual Report.
Frequently Used Terms
Unless otherwise stated in Part II Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, or the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report to:
“2026 Notes” are to the 1.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026;
“AMP-1” are to our Advanced Manufacturing Plant-1 in Casa Grande, Arizona;
“AMP-2” are to our planned Advanced Manufacturing Plant-2 in Saudi Arabia, which consists of a semi knocked-down (“SKD”) portion that has been completed and a completely-built-up (“CBU”) portion that will be constructed;
“Ayar” are to Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of the PIF and the controlling stockholder of the Company;
“Board” or “Board of Directors” are to the board of directors of Lucid Group Inc., a Delaware corporation;
“Certificate of Designations” refers to Series A Certificate of Designations and Series B Certificate of Designations, together;
“Churchill” or “CCIV” are to Churchill Capital Corp IV, a Delaware corporation and our predecessor company prior to the consummation of the Transactions, which changed its name to Lucid Group, Inc. following the consummation of the Transactions, and its consolidated subsidiaries;
“Churchill IPO” are to the initial public offering by Churchill which closed on August 3, 2020;
“Closing” are to the consummation of the Transactions;
“Closing Date” are to July 23, 2021, the date on which the Transactions were consummated;
“common stock” are to the Class A common stock of Lucid Group, Inc., par value $0.0001 per share;
“ESG” are to Environmental, Social and Governance;
“EV” are to electric vehicle;
“Investor Rights Agreement” are to the Investor Rights Agreement, dated as of February 22, 2021 and as amended from time-to-time, by and among the Company, the Sponsor, Ayar and certain other parties thereto;
“Legacy Lucid” are to Atieva, Inc., d/b/a Lucid Motors, an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and its consolidated subsidiaries before the Closing Date;
“LPM-1” are to our Lucid Powertrain Manufacturing Plant-1 in Casa Grande, Arizona;
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“Merger” are to the merger of a merger subsidiary of Churchill and Atieva, Inc., with Atieva, Inc. surviving such merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Churchill;
“Merger Agreement” are to that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 22, 2021, by and among Churchill, Legacy Lucid and Air Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Churchill, as the same has been or may be amended, modified, supplemented or waived from time-to-time;
“PIF” are to the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia;
“Private Placement Warrants” are to Churchill’s warrants issued to the Sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the Churchill IPO;
“Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock” are to the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, together;
“Series A Certificate of Designations” refers to the Certificate of Designations of Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock;
“Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock” are to the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock of Lucid Group, Inc., par value $0.0001 per share;
“Series A Subscription Agreement” refers to the subscription agreement entered into on March 24, 2024, by the Company and Ayar to purchase from the Company 100,000 shares of its Series A Convertible Preferred Stock;
“Series B Certificate of Designations” refers to the Certificate of Designations of Series B Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock;
“Series B Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock” are to the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of Lucid Group, Inc., par value $0.0001 per share;
“Series B Subscription Agreement” refers to the subscription agreement entered into on August 4, 2024, by the Company and Ayar to purchase from the Company 75,000 shares of its Series B Convertible Preferred Stock;
“Sponsor” are to Churchill Sponsor IV LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of M. Klein and Company;
“Transactions” are to the Merger, together with the other transactions consummated under the Merger Agreement and the related agreements; and
“Warrant Agreement” are to the Warrant Agreement, dated July 29, 2020, entered into in connection with the Churchill IPO by and between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and Churchill.
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this section to “Lucid,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and other similar terms refer to Legacy Lucid and its subsidiaries prior to the Closing, and Lucid Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries after the Closing.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
OVERVIEW
Mission
Lucid’s mission is to advance the state-of-the-art of EV technology for the benefit of all.
About Us
Lucid is a technology company that is setting new standards with the world’s most advanced EVs, the award-winning Lucid Air and all-new Lucid Gravity. This includes the Lucid Air Pure, the most efficient vehicle on the market today (as measured by miles of range per kilowatt-hour), the Lucid Air Grand Touring, the longest-range (up to 512 miles of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)-estimated range) and the fastest-charging (as measured by miles of range per minute) fully electric car in its class on the market today, and the Lucid Gravity, capable of up to 450 miles of an EPA-estimated range and up to 400 kW fast charging. Estimated ranges, including EPA-estimated ranges where applicable, are provided for Lucid Air vehicles equipped with 19-inch wheels and Lucid Gravity Grand Touring vehicles equipped with 20”F/21”R wheels and configured as 2-row, 5-seat vehicle. Actual range will vary depending on many factors, including vehicle configuration, battery age, driving habits, charging habits, temperatures, accessory use, and other factors. Lucid (i) designs, engineers and manufactures EVs, EV powertrains, and battery systems in-house using our own equipment and factories, (ii) designs and develops proprietary software in-house for Lucid vehicles that can be continuously enhanced upon through over-the-air (“OTA”) software updates, (iii) offers a refined customer experience at our own geographically distributed retail and service locations and through direct-to-consumer online sales, (iv) plans to supply and license technology to third parties, and (v) boasts a strong product roadmap of future vehicle programs and technologies. Our focus on in-house hardware and software innovation, vertical integration, and a “clean sheet” approach to engineering and design led to the development of the award-winning Lucid Air and Lucid Gravity.
The Lucid Air redefines both the luxury sedan segment and the EV space, with an EPA-estimated range of up to 512 miles on a single charge for the Grand Touring trim. A significant enabler of this range is an efficient and powerful drivetrain that Lucid developed and built in-house through our vertically integrated manufacturing structure.
The Lucid Gravity is a groundbreaking new class of sport utility vehicle (“SUV”), conceived from the ground up without compromise. The Lucid Gravity provides the interior space and practicality of a full-size SUV within the exterior footprint of a mid-size SUV. As a result, it provides a space for up to seven adults, game-changing versatility, and an unparalleled driving experience. Leveraging Lucid’s in-house powertrain technology, we have engineered the Lucid Gravity to deliver up to 450 miles of EPA-estimated range, while the only other competitive vehicle on the market today offering comparable driving range requires a battery pack over 60 percent larger in capacity.
The Lucid Space Concept underpins the design of Lucid Air and Lucid Gravity, merging a smaller exterior footprint with more interior space and better comfort. This achievement is enabled by our wholistic approach to vehicle design and integration, which is aided by highly efficient miniaturized drivetrain components.
The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity are assembled at our EV manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, named Advanced Manufacturing Plant-1 (“AMP-1”). In 2024, we completed key expansion activities to bring installed capacity at AMP-1 to 90,000 vehicles per year. By building AMP-1 from a clean slate, we expect to achieve greater operational efficiencies and more consistent production quality than would be possible through outsourced manufacturing or adaptation of an existing facility. An emphasis on vertical integration of manufacturing capabilities provides us the opportunity to control our technology roadmap, ensure a high degree of quality control, and improve product margins relative to an outsourced manufacturing arrangement. We plan to diversify our vehicle portfolio and increase production capacity through localization of manufacturing in another geographical region. In 2022, we broke ground on the Advanced Manufacturing Plant-2 in Saudi Arabia (“AMP-2”), and in 2023, we began semi knocked-down (“SKD”) assembly, with installed annual capacity of 5,000 vehicles. The initial operation is re-assembly of the Lucid Air vehicle ‘kits’ that are pre-manufactured at AMP-1. In 2024, we started an expansion at AMP-2 to enable completely-built-up (“CBU”) unit production with an additional installed annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The start of production of our Midsize platform is scheduled for late 2026, which we expect will expand our market reach into higher-volume vehicle segments.
We sell vehicles directly to consumers through our retail sales network and through direct online sales, including utilizing Lucid Financial Services. As of December 31, 2024, we have opened 42 Studios and service centers in North America, 11 in Europe, and 4 in the Middle East. In addition, we have various temporary and satellite service centers. We believe that owning and operating our sales network provides an opportunity to closely manage the customer experience, gather direct customer feedback, and ensure that customer interactions are tailored to our customers’ needs.
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We own and operate a vehicle service network comprised of service centers in major metropolitan areas and a fleet of mobile service vehicles. In addition to our in-house service capabilities, we established and continue to grow an approved list of specially trained collision repair shops which also serve as repair hubs for our mobile service offerings in some cases. We have contracted with a third-party roadside assistance partner for urgent roadside needs. As a technology company, we also complement our in-house service offerings with remote vehicle diagnostics and alerts, and OTA updates. This combination of in-house capabilities, supplementary service partners, and remote support and update capability is intended to offer a premium service experience.
We began delivering the Lucid Air to customers in October 2021. We have leveraged and expanded the technological advancements from the Lucid Air to the Lucid Gravity, which started commercial production in December 2024. Beyond the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, we plan to expand our vehicle lineup with the upcoming Midsize platform, which is scheduled for start of production in late 2026.
Market Opportunity
We are defining the next generation of sustainable mobility by uniting our California aesthetic with our high-tech and Silicon Valley roots. Current competitive vehicles are based on traditions established by internal combustion automotive manufacture and design. We believe that we are leading the next wave of innovation in the vehicle space. With the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, we target consumers who desire EVs with a high-end aesthetic and the accompanying premium experience.
The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity compete in the global luxury car market. Our competitive advantage is defined by our leading EV hardware and software technology, developed entirely in-house. The Lucid Air Pure is the most efficient vehicle in the world (as measured by miles of range per kilowatt-hour), the Lucid Air Grand Touring is the longest-range and the fastest-charging (as measured by miles of range per minute) fully electric car in its class on the market today, and the Lucid Air Sapphire is the highest-performance version of the Lucid Air (boasting 1,234 horsepower from three motors, the ability to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 1.89 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 8.95 seconds).
We are defining a recognizable brand that is synonymous with elegant design, excellent driving performance, and outstanding range. We believe the automotive experience is one comprised of several essential elements, including: (i) high-end comfort and significant attention to detail in design, content, materials, and fit and finish, (ii) superior customer interaction, with high-touch customer engagement throughout both the sales cycle and ownership journey, and (iii) convenient service that exceeds that of a non-premium automotive experience.
Our long-term goal is to make a positive impact on the global climate crisis through mass production of advanced technologies and EVs. The market is still nascent, with approximately 11.1% and 8.1% of new passenger vehicle sales in 2024 being battery electric vehicles (“BEV”) worldwide and in North America, respectively (worldwide figure is an estimate from S&P Global AutoInsight, and the North America figure is an actual result from S&P Global Catalyst Registration).
As our launch vehicle, the Lucid Air has established the bar for excellence across all our future products and experiences. We started delivering vehicles to customers in North America in October 2021. In 2022, we delivered our first vehicles to customers in Europe and the Middle East. Over the course of 2023, we delivered the entire Lucid Air lineup including the Lucid Air Sapphire, the world’s first luxury electric super-sports sedan, and the Lucid Air Pure, the most attainable and most efficient Lucid Air model. The Lucid Air has received critical acclaim since it debuted, winning MotorTrend 2022 Car of the Year, followed by the 2023 World Luxury Car Award, and most recently was named to Car and Driver’s 10Best list for 2024 and 2025. Production of our second vehicle, the Lucid Gravity, began in December 2024. The Lucid Gravity builds on innovations and processes from the Lucid Air sedan for an unprecedented combination of performance, interior space, and efficiency. Beyond the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, our business plan expands to vehicles using our upcoming Midsize platform, which is scheduled for start of production in late 2026.
In addition to the sale of Lucid-branded vehicles, we believe that our technological prowess and manufacturing capabilities present a further opportunity to generate revenue and combat climate change through the sale or licensing of EV powertrains, battery technology, and embedded controls software to third parties. Such powertrain and battery arrangements could facilitate and accelerate the shift to electrification for traditional automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), pure-play EV companies, and prospective partners in the transportation sector, and thereby enable the global production of EVs in greater volumes and at varying price points. We believe that the sale or licensing of our technology would also accelerate our efforts to refine our manufacturing efficiencies and the real world, practical operation of our technologies.
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Competitive Strengths
•Revolutionary Powertrain Technology. Our proprietary EV technology delivers outstanding range, charging, and driver-oriented performance all while achieving higher efficiency ratings than other EVs as measured by miles of range per kilowatt hour of energy consumed. All variants of the Lucid Air have received EPA-estimated range ratings of over 400 miles and the Lucid Air Grand Touring holds the title for the longest range passenger vehicle with an EPA-estimated range of 512 miles. The Lucid Gravity delivers up to 450 miles of EPA-estimated range, while the only other competitive vehicle on the market today offering comparable driving range requires a battery pack over 60 percent larger in capacity.
The Air’s proprietary high-voltage electrical architecture, the Wunderbox on-board inverter charger, and our efficient battery management system, all developed in-house by our teams, enable customers to spend less time charging. For example, the Lucid Air Grand Touring can add approximately 300 miles in about 21 minutes using DC fast charging, while the Lucid Air Pure can add up to 150 miles in about 12 minutes with DC fast charging. (Estimates are based on use of a 350 kW DC fast charger and vehicles equipped with 19-inch wheels. Actual rates will vary based upon vehicle equipment and charging conditions.)
In November 2023, we launched RangeXchange, the first application of the bi-directional charging capability built into the Lucid Air. Using Lucid’s innovative new vehicle-to-vehicle (“V2V”) RangeXchange adapter and the latest mobile charging cable, the Lucid Air can function as the power source to charge another EV. In the future, we plan to further unlock the potential of the bi-directional charging capability built into the Lucid Air to serve as a back-up power source for residential applications, such as during emergency power grid outages, when paired with Lucid Connected Home Charging Station. (Additional equipment is needed at the home to enable back-up power capabilities.)
In June 2023, we entered into an agreement (the “Implementation Agreement”) with Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc (together with its subsidiaries, “Aston Martin”), under which we and Aston Martin have established a long-term strategic technology and supply arrangement. On November 6, 2023, pursuant to the terms of the Implementation Agreement, integration and supply arrangements became effective, under which we will provide Aston Martin access to our powertrain, battery system, and software technologies, work with Aston Martin to integrate our powertrain and battery components with Aston Martin’s BEV chassis, and supply powertrain and battery components to Aston Martin (collectively, the “Strategic Technology Arrangement”).
•Proven, Real World Validation. Our battery technology developed over the past decade has been validated as world-class technology. Through our prototype and production vehicles and our role as the sole battery supplier to the second generation of the premier EV racing series, our patented battery technology has driven more than 230 million real world miles since Lucid’s inception.
•Highly Differentiated Performance. Our advancements in battery pack and drivetrain technology, created through a clean-sheet approach to engineering, have resulted in compelling performance and efficiency in our vehicles. The Lucid Air Sapphire offers 1,234 horsepower, a 0-60 miles per hour acceleration time of 1.89 seconds and a standing quarter-mile time of 8.95 seconds.
•Directly Owned Manufacturing. Our vehicles are produced at AMP-1, the first purpose-built, greenfield EV manufacturing facility in North America. With the Lucid Air already in production, expansion activities have recently been completed to enable the concurrent production of the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity. Key elements of our vehicle engineering enable efficient and advanced manufacturing processes with a high degree of quality control. For example, the aircraft-inspired riveted and bonded monocoque body structure is designed to enhance structural efficiency and replace spot welds in the manufacturing process. Additionally, we manufacture and assemble our complete electric powertrain at AMP-1, including assembly of battery packs, integrated drive units, and the Wunderbox. In September 2023, we also opened AMP-2, which was Saudi Arabia’s first-ever car manufacturing facility and our first manufacturing facility outside the United States, where we commenced SKD assembly operations.
•In-House Sales and Service. Consistent with the focus on vertical integration in our manufacturing processes, we employ a direct sales and service model to maintain full control over the customer experience and ensure that interactions are aligned with Lucid standards. We enable a superior customer experience by vertically integrating our sales operations instead of relying on a traditional outsourced dealership model. We are also scaling our own service operations to support planned future growth, in addition to further developing our established network of partnerships with body shops and other ancillary service partners that meet our expectations for customer service.
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•Product Design. The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity fuse art and science to capture the full potential of electrification. As our company’s first vehicle, the Air established the bar for excellence across all our products and experiences. Our Space Concept represents a technical breakthrough, achieved by rethinking the way an automobile is designed from the ground up. Our reimagining of the car has resulted in class-leading interior space for the driver, passengers, and storage within a compact and efficient exterior. The Lucid Gravity builds upon this design philosophy to deliver an occupant and cargo space that outclasses the competition in a vehicle with a significantly smaller exterior footprint.
•Deep Experience. We have assembled a seasoned management and advisory team with deep experience in the automotive and EV industries. The management team is rounded out by executives with significant experience from such companies as Tesla, Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Stellantis, and Volkswagen, among others.
•Strategic Partnerships. We have established strong relationships with suppliers and partners to deliver the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity. We have battery cell supply agreements in place with leading suppliers in the EV space and have also begun entering into agreements to help ensure our supply of critical battery materials.
•Software Defined. Our advanced software-defined vehicle architecture is applied throughout our vehicles to allow us to continually tune and improve vehicle performance, add features, and delight our existing and new customers through OTA software updates.
Growth Strategy
We aim to create opportunity as an automotive company and a technology provider for other automotive OEMs.
•Vehicle Roadmap. We have established a roadmap for future vehicle lines that includes a variety of vehicle types expected to perform well in various customer segments. Establishing the brand with the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, we plan to unlock further sales with a new Midsize platform, enabling sales in some of the highest-volume vehicle segments, which we expect will enable us to leverage economies of scale and efficiency of operations. We will seek to establish a strong customer base in premium vehicle markets across the globe.
•International Expansion. We expect to increase our market presence in multiple geographies along with the relevant retail and service footprint across each geographic region. Expanding across global markets is key to achieving the scale of economies needed for a profitable OEM. The expansion is expected to enhance the brand presence and awareness and support top line growth objectives. Additional business and distribution models are being implemented to both accelerate speed to market while optimizing resource requirements.
Long term, we are also exploring expansion of our manufacturing footprint. These manufacturing facilities could include facilities for component subassembly, vehicle kit reassembly, and complete built unit vehicle production. We believe that establishing a global manufacturing footprint will help us to grow the brand, scale the business and address market demand in the Middle East, European and Asia-Pacific markets, while also taking action to reduce our carbon footprint and address climate change.
We anticipate that a localized supply chain, production, distribution and retail network will yield cost savings and lower carbon emissions with shorter transportation distances of products to customers.
•Technology Outbound Sales & Licensing. We are actively engaged in supplying all racing teams in the premier EV open wheel racing series with a front drive unit and related software. We also entered into the Strategic Technology Arrangement with Aston Martin in 2023 under which we will provide Aston Martin access to our powertrain and battery system technology to use in Aston Martin’s battery electric vehicles. We plan to continue expanding this technology division to supply our world class technologies to other automotive OEMs and partners in the transportation sector to help accelerate the adoption of EVs.
We are motivated to achieve a future where transportation is fully sustainable. The sale of technology solutions to traditional automotive OEMs and pure-EV brands would support that goal, as would sales to customers in other transportation sectors. Our technology is modular and readily customizable, enhancing our suitability for build-to-print powertrain and battery solutions for other manufacturers.
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Our Vehicles
Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is the most advanced car in the world, featuring California-inspired design and award-winning powertrain technology. As Lucid’s first vehicle, the Air has established Lucid as the preeminent force in electric vehicle technology. Since the first deliveries to customers in October 2021, the Lucid Air has been the benchmark for luxury vehicles and EVs, continuing to grow in popularity and garnering continuing accolades from the media. The Lucid Air is offered in an array of trims and configurations at different price points with distinct superlatives. The 2025 Air Pure offers a remarkable 420 miles of EPA-estimated range, with just an 84-kWh battery pack, and thus achieves a landmark 5.0 miles per kilowatt hour of energy, making it the most efficient vehicle on the market today. With 512 miles of EPA-estimated range, the Lucid Air Grand Touring continues to lead the market in range by a significant margin, enabled by advancements in Lucid’s electric powertrain technology. The Lucid Air Sapphire is the highest-performance version of the Lucid Air, boasting 1,234 horsepower from three motors, 427 miles of an EPA-estimated range (when equipped with standard wheel covers), the ability to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 1.89 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 8.95 seconds. In 2024, the Lucid Air outperformed many major and well-established brand in the U.S. across both electric and combustion vehicles within its competitive set, based on the data from Motor Intelligence.
Lucid Gravity
The Lucid Gravity, for which we began commercial production in December 2024, reimagines what an SUV can be, and is conceived from the ground up to offer a previously impossible combination of features. Enabled by Lucid’s revolutionary technology, the Lucid Gravity provides the interior space and practicality of a full-size SUV within the exterior footprint of a mid-size SUV. As a result, it provides a sophisticated space for up to seven adults, game-changing versatility, and an unparalleled driving experience. Leveraging Lucid’s in-house powertrain technology, we have engineered the Lucid Gravity to deliver up to 450 miles of EPA-estimated range, while the only other competitive vehicle on the market today offering comparable driving range requires a battery pack over 60 percent larger in capacity.
The Lucid Gravity is designed to share components with the Lucid Air where optimal, and we continue to evaluate opportunities to apply components developed for the Lucid Gravity to the Lucid Air, further expanding the number of common parts while also enhancing the customer experience in the Lucid Air. We anticipate that all of these measures will enable efficiency in design, engineering, and capital expenditure deployment for the Lucid Gravity.
The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity are true software-defined vehicles, designed to improve over time, with OTA software updates and key hardware already in place in the vehicle. This holistic systems approach to the integration of hardware and software is what allows us to provide these value-add updates and is what sets us apart in the automotive industry.
As discussed in “— Technology” below, the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity are underpinned by the Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (“LEAP”), which is designed with adjustability to support multiple vehicle variants to enable greater capital deployment efficiency and speed to market.
Future Vehicle Programs
We started by manufacturing higher-end vehicles to establish our brand. We expect to progress to higher-volume vehicle segments over time, which require a higher throughput from manufacturing to distribution. Beyond the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, our roadmap calls to expand our vehicle lineup with vehicles built on a new Midsize platform, with which we intend to enter lower-price and higher-volume vehicle segments. The Midsize platform is currently in development, and is scheduled for start of production in late 2026.
Technology
We are a technology company that has set new standards for sustainable transportation. We have done so in part by developing proprietary EV technology in-house. Core to our DNA is the achievement of technical excellence.
Our in-house engineering team is focused on delivering innovation in all facets of vehicle development, including hardware and software development, vehicle design, and passenger comfort. The development of the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity have been predicated on the premise that miniaturizing the powertrain would allow us to redesign what a passenger vehicle can be from the ground up.
We have refined our battery technologies over many years in real-world applications, including more than 230 million miles of vehicle testing and the supply of battery packs to all teams in the world’s premier EV open wheel racing series. We have used the data accumulated from these activities to refine our technology and thoughtfully develop the Lucid Air, and subsequently the Lucid Gravity.
We believe our in-house research and development organization establishes us as a leader across multiple technologies and areas of expertise. Our technological achievements include significant advancements to the core technologies that drive an EV and are instrumental in the LEAP.
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LEAP was designed and developed in-house, incorporating our six key powertrain elements: (i) battery pack & battery management software, (ii) electric motors, (iii) power electronics, (iv) transmission, (v) control software, and (vi) two-way onboard boost-charger. The LEAP structure is an enabling factor allowing the Lucid Space Concept to support class-leading interior and cargo room for a luxury EV.
Areas where our in-house engineering has driven advancement include:
•Battery Pack. The Lucid Air’s battery pack translates our motorsport experience and more than 230 million miles of real-world testing into a compact and energy dense unit that was developed in-house with a clean-sheet approach to engineering. The battery pack is designed to be scalable and modular, providing opportunities for cost and range variations as we develop future variants on our LEAP architecture. It is also designed for performance, with advanced cell end-cooling and low resistance technologies designed to reduce heat generation, control battery cell thermal conditions and ultimately increase range.
Our battery packs incorporate battery cells from suppliers that have extensive experience in the development and manufacturing of cells for high-performance EV applications and robust battery cycle life. The battery cells incorporated into our battery packs are required to conform to our high standards, including with respect to our targets for range, energy density, recharge/discharge rates and other characteristics, and to support our compact, energy-dense battery pack form.
Our battery packs support our vision to revolutionize EV technology through mass industrialization. Our single piece injection molded battery module is race derived yet designed for mass production, with electrical “bus bar” connectors that are integrally captured in the molding in a single operation — a profound technological advancement.
The technology developed for the battery pack in the Lucid Air has transferred to the Lucid Gravity, and we believe is suitable for the industrialization of our Midsize platform, and to technologically adjacent markets. See “— Growth Strategy.”
•Integrated Electric Motor, Inverter and Transmission Drive Unit. For our motor and gearbox system, we developed permanent magnet motors in-house. Combining these motors with an inverter and an integrated gearbox and differential creates an advanced electric drive unit that weighs just 163lb (74kg) and is small enough to fit inside a carry-on roller bag.
The Lucid drive unit is capable of producing up to 670 horsepower with power density up to 9.0 horsepower per kg, depending on vehicle trim and variant. This compactness allows for one, two or even three units to be used to power a Lucid Air or Lucid Gravity. Further to this, we have developed motor and transmission technology for the world’s premier EV open wheel racing series with a power density of over 14.5 horsepower per kg.
The enablers of these electric motor characteristics include a set of inventions that are part of our intellectual property portfolio. Most notably, a new motor winding technology has been introduced to increase power output and reduce electrical losses. The motor also features an innovative patented cooling system that more effectively removes heat from the stator winding, reducing losses and boosting efficiency.
The compactness of these electric drive units lays the foundation for our Space Concept vehicle design approach. The patented fully integrated transmission and differential also contribute to this approach. Together, these components comprise a unified, integrated rotational system that is both lightweight and extremely efficient. Meanwhile, we leverage a high voltage, silicon-carbide metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (“MOSFET”) system in our inverters to increase efficiency, especially in real-world driving conditions.
•Bi-directional Charging. The 900V+ high voltage architecture and our Wunderbox are key enablers inside the Lucid Air’s and the Lucid Gravity’s electrical platform. The Wunderbox is designed to enable ultra-fast DC and bi-directional AC charging with proprietary technology. It is a multi-function unit, developed in-house to help ensure compatibility with various charging stations and power levels, from Level 1 AC up to Level 3 DC fast charging. It also enables “boost-charging” when needed, such as when connected to 400V DC charging infrastructure.
The Wunderbox is also designed to enable a wide array of future-ready, bi-directional power delivery features, such as vehicle-to-grid (“V2G”) applications for situations such as managing home power outages. In November 2023, we launched RangeXchange, an innovative new feature enabling the Lucid Air to directly charge another EV. This capability is enabled by our bi-directional charging technology built into every Air via an OTA software update, as well as the RangeXchange adapter. This holistic systems approach to the integration of hardware and software is what allows us to provide these value-add updates and truly sets us apart in the automotive industry.
•Software System. The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity are true software-defined vehicles. With software-enabled future-ready hardware, Lucid vehicles can evolve over time to best meet customer needs long after they take delivery. With highly advanced processing capabilities, the system leverages data analytics and OTA updates to improve and refresh the vehicle over time.
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We have deployed more than 100 OTA software updates for improvements and bug fixes since customer deliveries began in October 2021.
In October 2022, we introduced Lucid UX 2.0, our most extensive software update to that point, with hundreds of updates and new features for every Lucid Air on the road. These included new capabilities for the DreamDrive advanced driver assistance systems, enhanced system performance, and new on-screen layouts to make Lucid UX more ergonomically friendly. These software updates are developed, coded, validated, and deployed by Lucid’s in-house hardware and software engineering teams.
In March 2023, we introduced wireless Apple CarPlay integration. Scheduled Charging, introduced in February 2023, allows customers to plug in a Lucid Air to a charger and begin charging at a predetermined time. In addition to these enhancements, we introduced several new features including Creature Comfort Mode for pets left in an otherwise unoccupied vehicle, Max A/C, Multitasking Widget, and Easy Entry, and made improvements to existing features including Highway Assist, SiriusXM, and Range Estimation.
In September, 2024, we added support for a new “Hey Lucid” vehicle voice assistant and made significant enhancements to our DreamDrive automated driving features as described below.
In November 2024, we released an OTA update for Lucid Air that significantly enhanced the audio experience in vehicles with the Surreal Sound Pro option and improved low volume level sound quality in all vehicles. This OTA update also improved the in-car navigation system, now displaying traffic lights and stop signs in regions supporting this feature. Additionally, as described below, this update included significant enhancements to our DreamDrive automated driving features.
•Controls Software. The core technology in the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity is fully conceived in-house. This includes a state-of-the-art computing platform, using our Ethernet Ring architecture, as well as intelligent fuse boxes and future proofed advance lighting systems, which is able to be upgraded with software to enable additional and improved features related to performance, range, and user experience. In 2023, with the release of the Lucid Sapphire, an In-House Traction Control and Torque Vectoring system was designed, implemented, and calibrated on various surfaces, delivering the performance attributes which gained broad acclaim. In 2024, with the Lucid Air rear-wheel drive, Regen Traction Control was developed to improve the performance of the vehicles in regen mode. In 2024, we also introduced a no-regen mode as an additional option for Lucid Air customers.
Our charging software was developed fully in-house from 2020; and in 2024, we released improvements to the software that led to 110V charging becoming 10% more efficient. At the same time, we also introduced new control algorithms on the rear drive units which improved our efficiency and range.
•Lucid DreamDrive. The Lucid Air is equipped with an extensive sensor suite, high on-board computing power, back-up systems for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (“ADAS”) and, over time, increased levels of automation. With up to 32 ADAS sensors onboard, the Lucid Air features one of the most comprehensive sensor suites among currently available production vehicles. The Lucid Air includes certain features with Level 2 ADAS functionality and is capable of software upgrades via OTA updates. Further, by collecting and analyzing fleet data, we continue to enhance our ADAS features and improve the Lucid experience.
In September 2024, an OTA update introduced major enhancements to DreamDrive Pro’s Level 2 Highway Assist feature, significantly improving lane centering performance and adding Active Curve Speed control to slow the vehicle in curves for a more comfortable experience. A new Lane Change Assist feature was also added to Highway Assist, allowing vehicles to change lanes automatically after initiation by driver. In addition, this release extended stop-and-go support for heavy traffic driver assistance, and added a 3-D visualization of surrounding vehicles and pedestrians in the instrument cluster display.
In November 2024, we added the Curb Rash Alert, which automatically detect curbs at low vehicle speeds and warn the driver of potential wheel scraping. Lucid is the first-to-market with this feature and has filed a patent application.
•Lucid’s Micro Lens Array (“MLA”) Lighting. A revolution in optical technology, our MLA was created in-house and allows more accurate control over the intensity distribution of the headlamp than conventional technologies. In a very compact form factor, the technology delivers exceptional contrast, high peak intensity, and high color uniformity. This technology enables a long-illuminated distance in low-beam mode with good visibility on both sides of the road and low glare for oncoming traffic. The MLA also allows angular distribution adaptation without mechanical movement of the light module only by changing the electrical current to the LED. For example, it can change the beam pattern from a more range focused brighter narrow beam on a highway to a broader mid-distance focused beam in cities or improve illumination of the roadside in curves or intersections.
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Manufacturing
We built North America’s first greenfield, purpose-built EV manufacturing facilities, in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid’s manufacturing activities are carried out at our vehicle manufacturing plant, AMP-1. An emphasis on vertical integration of manufacturing capabilities provides us the opportunity to control our technology roadmap, ensure a high degree of quality control, and improve product margins relative to an outsourced manufacturing arrangement. This vertical integration has allowed us to use decades of industry experience to achieve greater capital efficiencies, greater operational efficiencies, and consistent production quality.
We began the production of the Lucid Air at AMP-1 in September 2021. The manufacturing expansion of phase 2 at AMP-1 kicked off in mid-2021, adding approximately 3 million square feet of manufacturing space to our facility. In September 2023, we began producing vehicles at the AMP-1 phase 2 expanded facility, using innovative production processes and state-of-the-art equipment.
In 2024, we completed the phase 2 expansion project for all key manufacturing activities at AMP-1, including paint shop, stamping, a new body shop for the Lucid Gravity, and a majority of powertrain shop. Our AMP-1 phase 2 facility currently manufactures the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity. These expansion activities resulted in 90,000 units per year of installed capacity. In the fourth quarter of 2024, we started to phase out operations at Lucid Powertrain Manufacturing-1 (“LPM-1”) plant from dedicated powertrain manufacturing to remanufacturing. By May 2025, we expect that LPM-1 will focus on remanufacturing while AMP-1 phase 2 will house all dedicated powertrain operations.
In September 2023, we opened AMP-2, which was Saudi Arabia’s first-ever car manufacturing facility and our first manufacturing facility outside the United States, where we commenced SKD assembly operations. The facility’s initial operation is re-assembly of SKD Lucid Air vehicle “kits” that are pre-manufactured at AMP-1. It has installed annual capacity of 5,000 vehicles with the intent to scale up operations to meet demand in the Middle East.
In 2024, we started the expansion of our AMP-2 facility to enable CBU unit production with target installed annual capacity of 150,000. Once completed, AMP-2 is expected to have all the key manufacturing activities including stamping, body in white, painting, general assembly, and eventually powertrain production.
Supply Chain
Our supplier partners remain key in delivering our plan. Our vehicle contains thousands of parts and materials from suppliers around the globe. Lucid’s sourcing plans utilize a comprehensive qualification process to assess technical capability, quality, cost, footprint, etc. Challenges in supply chain remain, so collaborative relationships are essential. Lucid works closely with suppliers in the upfront development process and in supporting production needs and requirements. We have a multi-year sourcing agreement for lithium-ion batteries, a key component of our battery system, with Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. and certain of its affiliates.
Go-To-Market Strategy
Our typical customer journey begins through our advanced digital platform. We use several channels to educate customers regarding our brand identity, explain the creation of our technology, highlight the people behind our design and technology, and provide an easy gateway towards ordering and ownership. The goal is to cultivate brand loyalty and affinity with our customers. Our direct-to-consumer model allows customers the option of building vehicles to order or selecting from available cars via our digital platform. On the website, customers can experience our online vehicle configurator, which provides an opportunity to explore trims, colors, and features to determine the perfect Lucid for their needs. From there, we provide the customer with the option to either schedule a test drive, place an order online, contact our sales department, or visit one of our retail stores or gallery locations, which we refer to as “Studios.” Our direct-to-consumer sales model, combined with a digitally enhanced luxury experience through our website and a refined in-store experience, creates opportunities to tailor to each customer’s purchase and ownership preferences and provide Lucid with a level of control and refinement essential to building loyalty and ambassadorship among our intenders and customers. Through our omni-channel approach, Lucid intenders have the option to visit a Studio in person, make their inquiries entirely online, talk to an inside sales representative, or enjoy a combination of the three experiences with seamless handoffs.
In developing our Studios, we have built a network of retail spaces to enable customers to experience the brand and our products in locations that underscore our design aesthetic and allow the customers to experience our full product breadth through different sensory tools. Like the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, the interiors of Lucid Studios showcase color and material themes that represent specific locations within California as well as our focus on innovation with immersive technology experiences. We intend our Studios to provide a pressure-free environment for our customers to comfortably experience the brand and our products. Lucid Studios draw inspiration from the beauty and innovation of our home state of California.
Retail locations serve both as our sales channels and marketing tools in high-foot-traffic locations within urban areas. As of December 31, 2024, we had 57 Studios and service center locations opened, including locations in North America, Europe, and Middle East markets. We expect to increase coverage throughout these regions in 2025. Expanding our presence in existing and new geographies will increase our customer convenience, share of total addressable market, and overall brand awareness and consideration.
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With a focus on convenience, our service operations include vehicle and customer support through our network of brick-and-mortar service centers, and at customers’ physical locations through our mobile service offerings. Customers are also served through certified partners for roadside assistance and collision repairs. We designed the Lucid Air to enable OTA updates and remote diagnostics.
We leverage third-party charging networks in our market regions, rather than investing heavily in proprietary fast-charging infrastructure or high-power networks. Our Lucid App provides customers seamless Plug and Charge (“PnC”) access at partnering networks in North America and Europe, ensuring convenient charging options.
On Jan 31, 2025, we gained access to Tesla’s supercharging network in addition to the vast Combined Charging System infrastructure, which is expected to significantly enhance convenience and reduce concerns related to range anxiety. The Lucid Gravity vehicles can use the Tesla Supercharger network with native the North American Charging Standard (“NACS”) charge port in the first quarter of 2025, while we expect the Lucid Air vehicles will be granted access to the network, via an adapter, in the second quarter of 2025.
For at home charging, the Lucid Connected Home Charging Station can be installed to provide convenient, simple, and seamless charging at home, or the Lucid mobile charging cable can plug into a variety of household outlets. The Lucid Air now supports V2V charging and we expect to support further bi-directional capabilities with the Lucid Air and Lucid Connected Home Charging Station.
In 2025, we plan to launch the mobile charging cable in the KSA market, enhancing on-the-go charging as public infrastructure develops.
We have an agreement with the Government of Saudi Arabia, as represented by the Ministry of Finance, under which the Government of Saudi Arabia and its entities and corporate subsidiaries and other beneficiaries undertook to purchase up to 100,000 vehicles, with a minimum purchase quantity of 50,000 vehicles and an option to purchase up to an additional 50,000 vehicles over a ten-year period. We believe that our customer traction is strong and will continue to grow as we expand our footprint in Saudi Arabia.
Government Regulations and Credits
Environmental Regulations
We operate in an industry that is subject to extensive environmental regulation, which has become more stringent over time. The laws and regulations to which we are or may become subject govern, among other things, water use; air emissions; use of recycled materials; energy sources; the storage, handling, treatment, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials; the protection of the environment, natural resources, and endangered species; and the remediation of environmental contamination. Compliance with such laws and regulations at an international, regional, national, state, provincial and local level is and will be an important aspect of our ability to continue our operations.
Environmental standards applicable to us are established by United States laws and regulations and those of other jurisdictions in which we operate, standards adopted by regulatory agencies and the permits and licenses we are required to obtain. Each of these sources is subject to periodic modifications. Violations of these laws, regulations or permits and licenses may result in substantial civil and criminal fines, penalties and orders to cease the violating operations or to conduct or pay for corrective works. In some instances, violations may also result in the suspension or revocation of permits and licenses.
Many countries and U.S. states have announced a requirement for the sale of zero-emission vehicles only within prescribed timeframes, one as early as 2025, and we as an EV manufacturer are already able to comply with these requirements across our entire product portfolio as we expand. Our competitors, by contrast, will need to reconcile an expensive infrastructure with factories and equipment tailored for production of internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles, along with workforces trained to produce ICE vehicles and intellectual property portfolios geared for ICE vehicles.
Emissions Credits
We expect that the manufacture, sale, and/or registration of Zero Emission Vehicles (“ZEVs”) in various regions will earn certain regulatory credits that we can sell to other manufacturers. Under several regulatory schemes to control emissions from automobiles Lucid’s sales of ZEVs generate credits that can be sold to other manufacturers that do not comply with regulatory standards. At the U.S. federal level, credits may include Corporate Average Fuel Economy (“CAFE”) credits under U.S. Department of Transportation standards, greenhouse gas (“GHG”) and other emission limitations credits from EPA programs. Similar national-level programs exist in other markets, including the European Union, Switzerland, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. It may also include credits in up to 17 U.S. jurisdictions referred to collectively as the “ZEV States” that require compliance with ZEV program mandates (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia). Low-Emission Vehicle (“LEV”) credits may also be generated and sold in California and most of the ZEV States plus Pennsylvania.
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ZEV credits are calculated under applicable regulation and are paid in relation to ZEVs manufactured and registered, including BEVs. ZEV programs generally assign ZEV credits to each vehicle manufacturer. Vehicle manufacturers are required to maintain ZEV credits equal to a set percentage of non-EV sold and registered in California and ZEV States. Each vehicle sold and registered in the state earns a number of credits based on the drivetrain type and the all-electric range of the vehicle under the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule Test Cycle.
For reference, the ZEV credit requirement in California was 17% in 2023 and will rise to 22% in 2025. Under current regulations which are valid through the end of Model Year 2025, if a vehicle manufacturer does not sell enough EVs to meet its quota, it can choose to buy credits from other manufacturers who do, or it would be required to pay a $5,000 fine for each credit it is short. We expect this requirement to provide an opportunity to generate revenue from the sale of ZEV credits.
While we expect these environmental regulations to provide a tailwind to our growth, it is possible for certain regulations, to result in margin pressures. For example, regulations that effectively impose EV production quotas on auto manufacturers may lead to an oversupply of EV, which in turn could promote price decreases. Changes to these incentives and regulations could affect our revenues and gross margins.
Other Credits and Benefits
We may benefit from additional opportunities under government regulations and legislation, such as the following:
•Customer tax credits and other benefits arising from government regulation may spur interest in our products and business. In the United States, our EVs qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit under IRS Section 45W when sold for commercial uses, including those leased to customers, and future vehicles may be eligible for the 30D clean vehicle tax credit. Our vehicles may also be eligible for purchase incentives in other jurisdictions, such as Norway, and certain U.S. states such as California that offer high-occupancy lane driving privileges and other benefits.
•We are eligible for various tax credits, abatements and other benefits, including: the federal 45X Advanced Energy Production Credit; the federal 30C Alternative Fuel Infrastructure tax credit for alternative fuel infrastructure; the Qualified Facilities tax credit in Arizona; a California sales and use tax exclusion under the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority; and other hiring and job training grants and income tax credits in Arizona, California, and Michigan.
•We may also be eligible for a loan pursuant to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.
EPA Emissions and Certificate of Conformity
The U.S. Clean Air Act requires that we obtain a Certificate of Conformity issued by the EPA and a California Executive Order issued by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) certifying that our vehicles comply with applicable emissions requirements. A Certificate of Conformity is required for vehicles sold in the United States, and an Executive Order from CARB is required for vehicles sold in states that have adopted California standards. CARB sets the California standards for emissions control for certain regulated pollutants for new vehicles and engines sold in California. States that have adopted the California emission standards as approved by EPA also recognize the CARB Executive Order for sales of vehicles. In addition to California, there are 16 states plus the District of Columbia that have adopted California’s stricter emissions LEV standards, including New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada and New Mexico.
Although the Lucid Air has zero emissions, we are required to seek an EPA Certificate of Conformity and, for vehicles sold in California or any of the other 17 U.S. jurisdictions that have adopted the stricter California emission standards, a CARB Executive Order.
Vehicle Safety and Testing
Our vehicles are subject to, and are required to comply with, numerous regulatory requirements established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), including applicable U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”). The Lucid Air fully complies with all applicable FMVSS without any exemptions, and we expect our future vehicles to either fully comply or comply with limited exemptions related to new technologies. Additionally, there are regulatory changes being considered for several FMVSS, and while we anticipate compliance, there is no assurance that we will comply with such changes under the final versions as enacted.
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We must self-certify that our vehicles meet all applicable FMVSS, as well as the NHTSA bumper standard, or otherwise are exempt, before our vehicles can be sold in the United States. Numerous FMVSS will apply to our vehicles, such as crash-worthiness requirements, crash avoidance requirements and EV-specific requirements. We are also required to comply with other federal laws and regulations administered by NHTSA, including, among other things, ensuring our vehicles do not contain defects related to motor vehicle safety, recall requirements, the CAFE standards, Theft Prevention Act standards, consumer information labeling requirements, reporting required notices, bulletins and other communications, Early Warning Reporting, foreign recall reporting, and owner’s manual requirements.
The Automobile Information and Disclosure Act requires manufacturers of motor vehicles to disclose certain information regarding the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, optional equipment and pricing. In addition, this law requires inclusion of city and highway fuel economy ratings, as determined by the EPA, as well as crash test ratings as determined by NHTSA if such tests are conducted.
We intend to continue expanding our offerings outside of the United States, and in connection with such expansion, our vehicles will be subject to foreign safety, environmental and other regulations. Many of those regulations are different from those applicable in the United States and may require redesign and/or retesting. For example, the European Union (“E.U.”) has established approval and oversight rules requiring that a national authority certify compliance with heightened safety rules, emissions limits and production requirements before vehicles can be sold in each E.U. member state.
In addition to the various territorial legal requirements we are obligated to meet, the Lucid Air has earned five-stars, the highest possible overall safety rating, from the two main voluntary vehicle safety performance assessment programs, the NHTSA New Car Assessment Program (“NCAP”) and Euro NCAP. These programs have introduced several additional safety related tests aimed at improving the safety of passenger vehicles, both for occupants and pedestrians involved in collisions with vehicles. Some of these tests are derived from legal requirements, such as side impact, but have higher performance requirements. Others are unique to the programs. Areas covered by these tests included:
•Mobile Progressive Deformable Barrier;
•Full Width Rigid Barrier;
•Mobile Side Impact Barrier;
•Side Pole;
•Far Side Impact;
•Whiplash;
•Vulnerable Road Users (Pedestrians and Cyclists);
•Safety Assist; and
•Rescue and Extrication.
ADAS Regulations
We have equipped our vehicles with certain advanced driver assistance features. Generally, laws pertaining to driver assistance features and self-driving vehicles are evolving globally, and in some cases may create restrictions on advanced driver assistance or self-driving features that Lucid may develop.
While there are currently no U.S. federal regulations specifically pertaining to autonomous vehicles or autonomy equipment, NHTSA has published recommended guidelines on autonomous vehicles and retains the authority to investigate and/or act on the safety of any vehicle, equipment or features operating on public roads. Certain U.S. states also have legal restrictions on the operation, registration or licensure of autonomous vehicles, and many other states are considering similar restrictions. This regulatory patchwork increases the legal complexity with respect to autonomous vehicles in the United States.
In markets that follow the regulations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, some requirements restrict the design of advanced driver assistance or autonomous features, which can compromise or prevent their use entirely. Other applicable laws, both current and proposed, may hinder the path and timeline to introducing such features in the markets where they apply. Jurisdictions, including China, have implemented autonomous vehicle regulation while others continue to consider new regulation. Any implemented regulations may differ materially from those in the United States and Europe, which may further increase the legal complexity of advanced driver assistance and autonomous features and limit or prevent certain features.
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Automobile Manufacturer and Dealer Regulation
In the United States, state laws regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and service of automobiles, and generally require motor vehicle manufacturers and dealers to be licensed in order to sell vehicles directly to residents. Certain states do not permit automobile manufacturers to be licensed as dealers or to act in the capacity of a dealer or otherwise restrict a manufacturer’s ability to deliver or service vehicles. To sell vehicles to residents of states where we are not licensed as a dealer, we expect to conduct the transfer of title out of the state. In certain such states, we expect to open Studios that serve an educational purpose and where the title transfer may not occur.
Some automobile dealer trade associations have challenged the legality of our operations and direct selling operations by OEMs in court and have used administrative and legislative processes to attempt to prohibit or limit such OEMs’ ability to operate existing stores or expand to new locations. Certain dealer associations have also actively lobbied state licensing agencies and legislators to interpret existing laws or enact new laws in ways not favorable to our planned direct sales and service model. We expect dealer trade associations to continue to lobby state licensing agencies and legislators to interpret existing laws or enact new laws in ways not favorable to our business model; however, we intend to oppose such efforts to limit our ability to operate and intend to proactively support legislation, and litigation when necessary, that enables our business model.
Battery Safety and Testing Regulations
We design our battery packs to conform to mandatory regulations that govern transport of “dangerous goods,” defined to include lithium-ion batteries, which may present a risk in transportation. The governing regulations, which are issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, are based on the United Nations (“U.N.”) Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations and related U.N. Manual Tests and Criteria. The regulations vary by mode of shipping transportation, such as by ocean vessel, rail, truck or air. We plan to complete all applicable transportation tests for our battery packs, demonstrating our compliance with applicable regulations. We use lithium-ion cells in the high voltage battery packs in our vehicles. The use, storage and disposal of battery packs is regulated under federal and state laws.
We also design our battery packs to comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (“UNECE”) R100 regulation necessary for type approval in the European Union (“EU”) as well as the CE requirements necessary to import or sell EVs in the EU.
Our battery packs are tested for compliance with applicable requirements of the UNECE Manual of Tests and Criteria demonstrating our ability to ship battery packs by any method. These tests include:
•Altitude simulation — simulating air transport;
•Thermal cycling — assessing cell and battery seal integrity, as well as cell and battery thermal stability;
•Vibration — simulating vibration during transport;
•Shock — simulating possible impacts during transport; and
•External short circuit — simulating an external short circuit.
We equip our battery systems with a set of passive and active safety features to help ensure the battery always operates within the design envelope and fails safe in case of abnormal conditions.
We test our battery packs for compliance with applicable requirements of the UNECE R100 regulation demonstrating battery safety. These tests include:
•Vibration — simulating vibration during driving;
•Thermal cycle — assessing pack thermal stability in elevated temperatures;
•Fire resistance — assessing the ability of the pack to sustain exposure to large flames without explosion;
•External short circuit — assessing the ability of the pack to fail safe when exposed to external short circuit;
•Overcharge protection — assessing the ability of the pack to fail safe when it is attempted to overcharge;
•Overdischarge protection — assessing the ability of the pack to fail safe when it is attempted to overdischarge;
•Overtemperature protection — assessing the ability of the pack to fail safe when it overheats;
•Overcurrent protection — assessing the ability of the pack to fail safe when it is exposed to overcurrent conditions;
•Thermal event warning — assessing the ability of the pack to detect a thermal event and generate a warning to the driver; and
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•Thermal propagation — assessing the ability of the pack to tolerate a single cell thermal event safely.
Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Regulation
We are subject to, or otherwise affected by, a variety of increasingly stringent federal, state, local and international laws and regulations relating to data privacy and cybersecurity, including, among other laws and regulations, contractual obligations, and industry standards that impose certain obligations and restrictions with respect to the processing of personal information of our employees, customers, and other third-party individuals. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), Cyber Resiliency Act, Data Act and AI Act, as well as other global regulations such as the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (i.e., a version of the GDPR as implemented into the law of the United Kingdom), Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (“PDPL”), the rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020), certain other comprehensive state data privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations, and various state data breach notification laws.
We are also impacted by regulations obligating us to share vehicle repair-related information with third parties, including repair shops and repair tool hardware developers, under what are commonly called “right-to-repair” laws. In addition, the UNECE has introduced regulations governing connected vehicle cybersecurity in the EU which are mandatory for all new vehicle types from July 2022 and all new vehicles produced from July 2024, and we are required to comply with the vehicle certification process and maintenance of a Cybersecurity Management System. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Data Privacy” for more information regarding applicable cybersecurity and data privacy laws and regulations and risks related to cybersecurity and data privacy and “Item 1C — Cybersecurity” for more information regarding our cybersecurity risk management program.
Competition
We face competition from both traditional automotive OEMs and newer companies focused on electric and other alternative fuel vehicles. We expect this competition to increase, particularly as the transportation sector continues to shift towards low-emission, zero-emission, or carbon neutral solutions.
The Lucid Air, the Lucid Gravity, and planned future vehicles are expected to compete with both traditional luxury internal combustion vehicles from established automotive OEMs and electric and other alternative fuel vehicles from both new manufacturers and established automotive OEMs, many of which have entered or have announced plans to enter the alternative fuel and electric vehicle market. Many major automobile manufacturers, including luxury automobile manufacturers, have EVs available today, and other current and prospective automobile manufacturers are also developing EVs. In addition, numerous manufacturers offer hybrid vehicles, including plug-in versions, with which our vehicles also compete.
We believe the primary competitive factors on which we will compete include, but are not limited to:
•product quality, reliability and safety;
•range, efficiency and charging speeds;
•product performance;
•technological innovation, including with respect to ADAS features;
•access to charging options;
•design, styling, and luxury;
•service options and customer experience;
•management team experience at bringing EV and other disruptive technologies to market;
•manufacturing efficiency;
•brand recognition and prestige; and
•product price.
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We believe that we compete favorably on the basis of these factors. However, many of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than us. Our competitors may be able to deploy greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sales, marketing, and support of their products. Additionally, many of our competitors also have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, broader customer and industry relationships, and other tangible and intangible resources that exceed ours. Furthermore, many of our competitors operate with a traditional sales and dealer distribution model for vehicles that may be viewed more favorably by potential customers. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions or joint venture agreements in the EV and luxury automotive markets may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is important to our business. Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce, defend, and protect the intellectual property and other proprietary technology that we develop, to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others; and to prevent others from infringing, misappropriating or violating our intellectual property and proprietary rights. We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation, confidential information, and other measures to develop and maintain our proprietary position including through employee, contractor, consultant and third-party nondisclosure and invention assignment agreements, and other contractual arrangements.
Regardless of the coverage we seek under our existing patent applications, there is always a risk that alterations from our products or processes may provide sufficient basis for a competitor to avoid infringement claims. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before a patent is issued and courts can reinterpret patent scope after issuance. Many jurisdictions, including the United States, permit third parties to challenge issued patents in administrative proceedings, which may result in further narrowing or even cancellation of patent claims. We cannot provide any assurance that any patents will be issued from our pending or any future applications or that any current or future issued patents will adequately protect our intellectual property. For this and other risks related to our intellectual property, proprietary technology, inventions and improvements, please see the section entitled “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business and Operations — Risks Related to Intellectual Property.”
As of December 31, 2024, we owned approximately 207 issued U.S. patents, 147 pending U.S. patent applications, 140 issued foreign patents, 161 pending foreign patent applications and 71 pending Patent Cooperation Treaty patent applications.
As of December 31, 2024, we also owned approximately 16 registered U.S. trademarks and 19 pending U.S. trademark applications, as well as 461 registered foreign trademarks and 79 pending foreign trademark applications in approximately 33 countries worldwide in addition to the European Union.
As of December 31, 2024, we also owned approximately 56 issued U.S. design patents and 38 pending U.S. design patent applications, as well as 260 issued foreign design patents/industrial designs and 25 pending foreign design patent/industrial design applications.
We expect to develop additional intellectual property and proprietary technology as our engineering and validation activities proceed. Technologies that we have and intend to invest in and develop include engineering software, powertrain systems and controls, infotainment, cybersecurity, telematics and electrical architecture hardware and software. As we develop our technology, we will continue to build our intellectual property portfolio, including by pursuing patent and other intellectual property protection when we believe it is possible, cost-effective, beneficial, and consistent with our overall intellectual property protection strategy.
In addition to the intellectual property that we own, we also procure key technologies under our supply chain agreements, and we license key technologies under our license agreements.
See “— Our Vehicles” and “— Technology” above for more information.
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The terms of individual issued patents extend for varying periods depending on the date of filing of the patent application or the date of patent issuance and the legal term of patents in the countries in which they are obtained. Generally, utility patents issued for applications filed in the United States are granted a term of 20 years from the earliest effective filing date of a non-provisional patent application, assuming the patent has not been terminally disclaimed over a commonly-owned patent or a patent naming a common inventor, or over a patent not commonly owned but that was disqualified as prior art as the result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. The life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is therefore limited and once the patent lives of our issued patents have expired, we may face competition, including from other competing technologies. The duration of foreign patents varies in accordance with provisions of applicable local law, but typically is also 20 years from the earliest effective filing date. The actual protection afforded by a patent may vary from country to country and can depend upon many factors, including the type of patent, the scope of its coverage, the availability of patent term adjustments or extensions, the availability of legal remedies in a particular country, and the validity and enforceability of the patent. As a result, our owned patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
Furthermore, we rely upon trade secrets, know-how, confidential information, unpatented technologies, continuing technological innovation, and other proprietary information to develop, protect, and maintain our competitive position and aspects of our business that are not amenable to, or that we do not presently consider appropriate for, patent protection and prevent competitors from reverse engineering or copying our technologies. However, the foregoing rights, technologies and information are difficult to protect. We seek to protect them by, in part, using confidentiality agreements with our employees, contractors, consultants, and any potential commercial partners and collaborators and invention assignment agreements with our employees. We also have implemented or intend to implement confidentiality agreements or invention assignment agreements with our selected contractors, consultants, and potential commercial partners. These agreements are designed to protect our proprietary information and, in the case of the invention assignment agreements, to grant us ownership of technologies that are developed through a relationship with a third party. These agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be self-executing or otherwise provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary information or technology. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by our competitors. To the extent that our commercial partners, collaborators, employees, contractors, and consultants use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.
Our commercial success will also depend in part on not infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual or proprietary rights of third parties. The issuance of third-party patents could require us to alter our development or commercial strategies, change our products or processes, obtain licenses to additional third-party patents or other intellectual property or cease certain activities. Our breach of any license agreements or failure to obtain a license to proprietary rights that we may require to develop or commercialize our future products or technologies may have an adverse impact on us. Given that patent applications in the United States and certain other jurisdictions are maintained in secrecy for 18 months or potentially longer, and since publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature often lags behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain of the patent protection being sought by third parties and/or the priority of inventions covered by such patent applications. Moreover, we may have to participate in interference, revocation, derivation, re-examination, post-grant review, inter partes review or opposition proceedings brought by third parties or declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or an equivalent foreign body. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business and Operations — Risks Related to Intellectual Property” for more information regarding these and other risks related to our intellectual property portfolio and their potential effect on us.
HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES
At Lucid, we strongly believe in the power of our talented employees and partners to create, build, and support the world’s most advanced EVs available in the market. We seek to attract and retain employees whose respective professional and personal backgrounds can help craft an unparalleled suite of state-of-the-art, technologically advanced, California-inspired vehicles for consumers worldwide.
Towards these goals, as of December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 6,800 full-time employees globally. Our employees are primarily based at our headquarters in Newark, California, at our regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at our satellite location in Southfield, Michigan, at our EV manufacturing facilities in Casa Grande, Arizona, and King Abdullah Economic City (“KAEC”), Saudi Arabia, and at our retail stores and service centers throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.
We believe that our mission-first passion to advance the state-of-the-art of EV technology for the benefit of all would not be possible without a broad array of experiences and professional and personal backgrounds across our team.
Our Culture
When design is led by inspiration, invention by insight, and engineering by experience, we believe that anything is possible. Our relentless focus on innovation, luxury, and sustainability moves us toward a future where you no longer must choose between doing great things and doing the right thing.
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We are a collective of future visionaries; those who can think and do differently, that thrive on challenge and collaboration. Inspired by infinite possibilities, we strive to make a profound difference in the world. We are a team that values innovation, harnesses our passions, and embraces the entrepreneurial mind of limitless potential. We recognize, welcome, and appreciate the unique experiences and a broad range of perspectives that each of our employees bring with them, that in turn fuel our shared successes.
We strive to foster an open, egalitarian culture where all ideas and concerns can be raised to any member of leadership. It is a core belief that each employee has a unique lens which helps propel Lucid’s mission forward. To that end, we urge all employees to communicate their thoughts and to use any channel they deem warranted to share their perspective towards our mission. This approach helps fuel innovation, prevent stumbling blocks, and engages all employees towards being a member of one, unified team.
This year we added “customer focus” to our core values to ensure that everything we do is in service to our internal and external customers and stakeholders. We are bringing our core values to life by engaging members of the workforce in helping us define the expected behaviors for each of our core values. These values are woven into our performance management systems and help us identify talent. In addition to Customer Focus, our values include:
•Integrity in Action;
•Breakthrough Innovation;
•One Team;
•Passion for Excellence;
•Act With Urgency; and
•Ownership Mindset.
Safety
We instill an expectation and culture of safety in our workplace. As a manufacturing company, we are committed to ensuring workplace health, safety and environmental protection for our employees, suppliers, business partners, customers, and all our stakeholders. We protect the health and safety of our employees through a proactive and systematic approach to safety and health management. To demonstrate this, in 2024, we maintained ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 certifications for AMP-1 and achieved ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 certifications for AMP-2, which validates our system of continuous improvement to reduce occupational risk and improve worker safety. In 2024, the AMP-2 manufacturing site celebrated over 2 million man-hours of construction without a lost time injury.
Our Workforce and Commitment to Inclusion
At Lucid, inclusion is an essential part of who we are. We value the broad range of perspectives and experiences of our employees who reflect the communities we serve. Our differences spark innovation and drive us forward, which is why we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that empowers us to bring our best selves to work and achieve our mission to build a better future together.
Our people centric and data-driven workforce strategy focuses on three pillars:
1.Growing our workforce by attracting, hiring, and promoting talent from all backgrounds
2.Fostering an inclusive culture by promoting policies, practices, and programs that support and engage all employees
3.Being key contributors to the community by engaging with and investing in local communities where we operate
Of note, Lucid sponsors nine employee resource groups to support and empower our employees. Membership in employee resource groups is open to all Lucid employees.
Compensation and Benefits
We offer competitive compensation to attract and retain the best people in the world, and we help care for our people so they can focus on our mission. Our employees' total compensation package includes market-competitive cash compensation and equity awards to all employees. We offer full-time employees equity at the time of hire and through annual equity grants because we want them to be owners of the company and committed to our long-term success. In 2024, we strengthened our support for employees and their families through the introduction of new health and wellness benefits. We are pleased to support employees and families through a comprehensive suite of insurance and retirement offerings, most of which can be individually selected by each employee to best fit their needs.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
As a technology and EV company focused on efficiently using our planet’s precious resources, we are proud that sustainability has been at the core of our business since day one. We are committed to improving environmental and social impacts across our value chain and helping ensure a robust governance structure to support our efforts. We believe in the importance of accountability and transparency, and we published our first sustainability report in 2024 that contains the details of our program.
Highlights of our sustainable impact include:
Product: Efficiency is a key measure of the in-house technology embedded in our products, contributing to our goal of a best-in-class experience for our customers while benefiting the environment. The Lucid Air continues to be the longest-range fully electric vehicle (the Lucid Air Grand Touring has an EPA-estimated range of 512 miles per charge with 19-inch wheels) and the most efficient vehicle (the Lucid Air Pure with 5.0 miles of range per kilowatt-hour), and the Lucid Air has one of the lowest coefficients of drag of any vehicle on the market (0.197 coefficient of drag with 19-inch wheels). These achievements are based on a relentless focus on efficiency through the EV powertrain, battery pack and system, and an aerodynamic design. This focus on efficiency also enables our vehicles to travel further per kilowatt-hour. Each extra mile that we extract per kilowatt-hour of energy means less energy required and fewer carbon emissions from the electrical grid. This same efficient technology and approach enables the possibility of vehicles with smaller, lower-cost battery packs that retain competitive range, —which would benefit the environment by requiring fewer battery cells per vehicle.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) Strategy: Our dedicated ESG team continues to drive our efforts to implement thoughtful ESG strategies and programs. We base our priorities on a high-level ESG materiality assessment to identify key topics for our strategy. This effort includes insight from investors, ratings and rankings, Company leadership interviews, research on peers and consumer trends, and a media review. Our ESG Steering Committee, established in 2021, is comprised of senior executive leaders who meet on a regular basis to drive our strategy on ESG topics.
GOVERNANCE
We recognize that sound governance practices are critical to ethical business practices and our overall success as an organization and business.
•Corporate Governance: Our corporate governance best practices include: a majority independent Board under SEC and Nasdaq rules; a well-qualified Board with broad range of skills, backgrounds, and experiences, which includes 4 female directors and 5 members of under-represented communities; an independent chairman of the Board; and no classified board structure (all directors must be elected every year).
•Business Ethics:We have a publicly available Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and a framework to receive and investigate reports of policy violations. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is available on our Investor Relations website at https://ir.lucidmotors.com under the subheading “Governance.”
•Compliance: We continue to enhance our compliance program centered around a clear statement of principles and an expectation for both legal compliance and high ethical standards. We intend to achieve these goals through ongoing training of our contractors and employees, due diligence of our suppliers, clear policies and guidelines, internal controls over financial transactions, technological solutions to automate screenings for legal compliance and a reporting hotline which enables employees and service providers to share allegations of any legal or ethical matters on an anonymous basis.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. We also maintain an Investor Relations website at https://ir.lucidmotors.com. Through our website, we make available, free of charge, the following documents of Lucid as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC: Annual Reports on Form 10-K; proxy statements for our annual and special shareholder meetings; Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q; Current Reports on Form 8-K; Forms 3, 4 and 5 and Schedules 13D; and amendments to those documents. Our SEC filings are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Our website, the SEC’s website and the information contained therein or linked thereto are not a part of this Annual Report.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
A description of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business is set forth below. Investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below, or of additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and our stockholders could lose all or part of their investment.
Risk Factor Summary
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in this section titled Item 1A. “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy and growth of our business. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in this section titled Item 1A. “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
•Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult and may increase the risk of stockholders’ investment.
•We have incurred net losses each year since our inception and expect to incur increasing expenses and substantial losses for the foreseeable future.
•We may be unable to adequately control the substantial costs associated with our operations.
•Failure to attract customers, failure to complete the purchase process with customers, and customer cancellation of orders may have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
•A global economic recession, government closures of banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, or other downturn may have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
•We currently depend primarily on revenue generated from a limited number of models and anticipate continuing to be significantly dependent on a limited number of models in the foreseeable future.
•Our business and prospects depend significantly on our brand.
•We do not have a third-party retail product distribution and full-service network.
•We face challenges providing charging solutions for our vehicles, both domestically and internationally.
•If we fail to manage our future growth effectively, we may not be able to develop, manufacture, distribute, market and sell our vehicles successfully.
•We face risks associated with international operations, including unfavorable regulatory, political, tax and labor conditions, which could harm our business.
•The automotive industry has significant barriers to entry that we must overcome in order to manufacture and sell EVs at scale.
•The automotive market is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry.
•We have experienced and may in the future experience significant delays in the design, manufacture, launch and financing of our vehicles, including the Lucid Air, the Lucid Gravity and our Midsize platform, which could harm our business and prospects.
•Our ability to continue production and our future growth depends upon our ability to maintain relationships with our existing suppliers and source suppliers for our critical components, and to complete building out our supply chain, while effectively managing the risks due to such relationships.
•We are dependent on our suppliers, the majority of which are single-source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to deliver necessary components of our products according to our schedule and at prices, quality levels and volumes acceptable to us, or our inability to efficiently manage these components or to implement or maintain effective inventory management and other systems, processes and personnel to support ongoing and increased production, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
•Changes in costs, changes of supply or shortage of materials, in particular for lithium-ion battery cells, could harm our business.
•If we fail to successfully construct or tool our manufacturing facilities or if our manufacturing facilities become inoperable, we will be unable to produce our vehicles and our business will be harmed.
•We have limited experience in high volume manufacture of our vehicles.
•If our vehicles fail to perform as expected, our ability to develop, market and sell or lease our products could be harmed.
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•We have limited experience servicing our vehicles and their integrated software. If we or our partners are unable to adequately service our vehicles, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
•Insufficient reserves to cover future warranty or part replacement needs or other vehicle repair requirements, including any potential software upgrades, could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
•We may not be able to accurately estimate the supply and demand for our vehicles, which could result in a variety of inefficiencies in our business and hinder our ability to generate revenue. If we fail to accurately predict our manufacturing requirements, we could incur additional costs or experience delays.
•Any unauthorized control, manipulation, interruption or compromise of or access to our products or information technology systems or networks could result in loss of confidence in us and our products, harm our business and materially adversely affect our financial performance, results of operations or prospects.
•We are subject to evolving laws, regulations, standards, policies, and contractual obligations related to data privacy and cybersecurity, and any actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our reputation and brand, subject us to significant fines and liability, or otherwise adversely affect our business.
•The loss of key employees or an inability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel may impair our ability to expand our business.
•We are subject to laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs, legal prohibitions or unfavorable changes upon our operations or products, and any failure to comply with these laws and regulations, including as they evolve, could substantially harm our business and results of operations.
•We may face regulatory limitations on our ability to sell vehicles directly, which could materially and adversely affect our ability to sell our vehicles.
•We may fail to adequately obtain, maintain, enforce, defend and protect our intellectual property and may not be able to prevent third parties from unauthorized use of our intellectual property and proprietary technology. If we are unsuccessful in any of the foregoing, our competitive position could be harmed and we could be required to incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.
•We will require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
•We may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits of our agreement with Aston Martin.
•If we identify material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and the value of our common stock.
•The issuance of additional shares of our common stock or other equity or equity-linked securities, including our Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock, or sales of a significant portion of our common stock, could depress the market price of our common stock.
•We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the applicable rules of Nasdaq and, as a result, qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. Our stockholders do not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are not controlled companies.
•The PIF and Ayar beneficially own a significant equity interest in us and have significant influence over us, which could decrease the relative ownership interest and voting power other holders of our common stock have over us.
•The holders of our Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock are entitled to vote their shares of the Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock on an as-converted to common stock basis and have rights to approve certain actions, which reduces the relative voting power of the holders of our common stock. The settlement of our obligations upon conversion, redemption, or repurchase of our Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock is expected to dilute the ownership of common stockholders and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
•Our Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock has rights, preferences and privileges that are not held by, and are senior to the rights of, our common stockholders.
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Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult and may increase the risk of stockholders’ investment.
We are an early-stage company with a limited operating history, operating in a rapidly evolving and highly regulated market. Furthermore, we have only released two commercially available vehicles, and we have limited experience manufacturing or selling a commercial product at scale. We have yet to generate significant revenue from the sale of electric vehicles, and as a result of the capital-intensive nature of our business, we expect to continue to incur substantial operating losses for the foreseeable future.
We have encountered and expect to continue to encounter risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by early-stage companies in rapidly changing markets, including risks relating to our ability to, among other things:
•hire, integrate and retain professional and technical talent, including key members of management;
•continue to make significant investments in research, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales;
•successfully design, build, manufacture and market new variants and models of electric vehicles, such as our Midsize platform;
•build a well-recognized and respected brand;
•establish, implement, refine and scale our commercial manufacturing capabilities and distribution infrastructure;
•establish and maintain satisfactory arrangements with third-party suppliers;
•establish and expand a customer base;
•anticipate and adapt to changing market conditions, including consumer demand for certain vehicle types, models or trim levels, technological developments and changes in competitive landscape;
•navigate an evolving and complex regulatory environment;
•successfully obtain, maintain, protect, defend and enforce our intellectual property and defend against claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation.
We have incurred net losses each year since our inception and expect to incur increasing expenses and substantial losses for the foreseeable future.
We have incurred net losses each year since our inception, including net loss of $2.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2024, our accumulated deficit was $12.9 billion. We expect to continue to incur substantial losses and increasing expenses in the foreseeable future as we:
•continue to design, develop and manufacture our vehicles;
•equip and expand our research, service, battery, powertrain, and manufacturing facilities to produce our vehicles in Arizona and in international locations such as Saudi Arabia;
•build up inventories of parts and components for our vehicles;
•manufacture and store an available inventory of our vehicles;
•develop and deploy geographically dispersed vehicle charging partnerships;
•expand our design, research, development, maintenance and repair capabilities and facilities;
•increase our sales, service and marketing activities and develop our distribution infrastructure; and
•expand our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations and status as a public company.
If our product development or commercialization of future vehicles is delayed, our costs and expenses may be significantly higher than we currently expect. We will incur the costs and expenses from these efforts before we receive any incremental revenues with respect thereto; therefore, we anticipate our losses in future periods will be significant.
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We may be unable to adequately control the substantial costs associated with our operations.
We will require significant capital to develop and grow our business. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses, including leases, sales and distribution expenses as we build our brand and market our vehicles; expenses relating to developing and manufacturing our vehicles, constructing, tooling and expanding our manufacturing facilities; research and development expenses (including expenses related to the development of the Lucid Air, the Lucid Gravity, our Midsize platform and other future products); raw material procurement costs; and general and administrative expenses as we scale our operations and continue to incur the costs of being a public company. Increased competition and adverse economic conditions have in the past and may continue in the future to require us to spend additional resources to attract customers, which in turn may result in higher marketing and incentive expenses. Furthermore, lower production and sales volumes have in the past and may in the future result in an inability to fully utilize our purchase commitments with suppliers which could result in increased costs and excess inventory as well as potential inventory write-offs. In addition, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs servicing and maintaining customers’ vehicles, including establishing our service operations and facilities and undertaking product recalls. As a company, we have limited historical experience forecasting and budgeting for any of these expenses, and these expenses could be significantly higher than we currently anticipate. In addition, any disruption to our manufacturing operations, obtaining necessary equipment or supplies, expansion of our manufacturing facilities, or the procurement of permits and licenses relating to our expected manufacturing, sales and distribution model could significantly increase our expenses. In such event, we could be required to seek additional financing earlier than we expect, and such financing may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
In the longer term, our ability to become profitable in the future will depend on our ability not only to effectively manage our capital expenditures and control costs on a timely basis, but also to sell in quantities and at prices sufficient to achieve our expected margins. If we are unable to appropriately price and cost-efficiently design, manufacture, market, sell, distribute and service our vehicles, our margins, profitability and prospects will be materially and adversely affected.
Failure to attract customers, failure to complete the purchase process with customers, and customer cancellation of orders may have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
Delays in customer deliveries, delays in the availability of options, potential changes in customer preferences, competitive developments, increased interest rates, negative publicity, decreased demand for electric vehicles, and other factors could result in failure to attract customers, failure to complete the purchase process with customers, and customer cancellation. Increases in interest rates could make financing unaffordable for segments of our customer base and any event or incident which generates negative media coverage about us or the safety or quality of our vehicles could result in failure to attract customers, failure to complete the purchase process, and customer cancellations. In addition, if we encounter delays in customer deliveries of our vehicles that further lengthen wait times or in the event of negative media coverage, a significant number of orders may be cancelled. As such, no assurance can be given that the purchase process will be completed, orders will not be cancelled, and orders will ultimately result in the final purchase, delivery and sale or lease of vehicles.
A global economic recession, government closures of banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, or other downturn may have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
A global economic recession or other downturn, whether due to inflation, global conflicts or other geopolitical events including the evolving conflicts in the Middle East, public health crises, interest rate increases or other policy actions by major central banks, government closures of banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, or other factors, may have an adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Adverse economic conditions as well as uncertainty about the current and future global economic conditions may cause our customers to defer purchases or cancel their orders in response to higher interest rates, availability of consumer credit, decreased cash availability, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, and weakened consumer confidence. Reduced demand for our products may result in significant decreases in our product sales, which in turn would have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Due to our premium brand positioning and pricing, an economic downturn is likely to have a heightened adverse effect on us compared to many of our electric vehicle and traditional automotive industry competitors, to the extent that consumer demand for luxury goods is reduced in favor of lower-priced alternatives. In addition, any economic recession or other downturn could also cause logistical challenges and other operational risks if any of our suppliers, sub-suppliers or partners become insolvent or are otherwise unable to continue their operations, fulfill their obligations to us, or meet our future demand.
In addition, the deterioration of conditions in global credit markets may limit our ability to obtain external financing to fund our operations and capital expenditures on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, we will have to significantly reduce our spending, delay or cancel our planned activities or substantially change our corporate structure, and we might not have sufficient resources to conduct or support our business as projected, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition. See “—Risks Related to Financing and Strategic Transactions — We will require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.”
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We currently depend primarily on revenue generated from a limited number of models and anticipate continuing to be significantly dependent on a limited number of models in the foreseeable future.
We currently depend primarily on revenue generated from the Lucid Air, and in the foreseeable future will be significantly dependent on a limited number of models. Although we have started production of the Lucid Gravity and have other vehicle models on our product roadmap, we are not scheduled to introduce another vehicle model for sale until late 2026. We expect to rely on sales from the Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity, among other sources of financing, for the capital that will be required to develop and commercialize future models on our product roadmap. To the extent that production of our current or future models is delayed or reduced, or if our current or future models are not well-received by the market for any reason, our revenue and cash flow would be adversely affected, we may need to seek additional financing earlier than we expect, and such financing may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
If we are unable to fulfill the orders from the Government of Saudi Arabia or if the Government of Saudi Arabia purchases significantly fewer vehicles than we anticipate for any reason, our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
In August 2023, we entered into an EV purchase agreement with the Government of Saudi Arabia as represented by the Ministry of Finance (the “EV Purchase Agreement”), which supersedes the letter of undertaking that we entered into in April 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the EV Purchase Agreement, the Government of Saudi Arabia and its entities and corporate subsidiaries and other beneficiaries (collectively, the “Purchaser”) may purchase up to 100,000 vehicles, with a minimum purchase quantity of 50,000 vehicles and an option to purchase up to an additional 50,000 vehicles during a ten-year period. Under the EV Purchase Agreement, the Purchaser may reduce the minimum vehicle purchase quantity by the number of vehicles set out in any purchase order not accepted by us or by the number of vehicles that we fail to deliver within six months from the date of the applicable purchase order. The Purchaser also has the sole and absolute discretion to decide whether to exercise the option to purchase the additional 50,000 vehicles. See Item 1 “Business” and Note 16 “Related Party Transactions” to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for more information.
If we experience delays in manufacturing and delivering vehicles ordered by the Purchaser, fail to or experience delays in complying with Saudi Arabian regulations or the requirements of the EV Purchase Agreement, fail to provide adequate service or support for the vehicles, or fail to set the appropriate purchase price for such vehicles, our revenue, cash flow and results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Furthermore, if the Purchaser reduces the minimum vehicle purchase quantity, delays the purchase of vehicles, does not exercise its option to purchase additional vehicles, or purchases significantly fewer vehicles than we currently anticipate for any reason, including for reasons beyond our control, our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Our business and prospects depend significantly on our brand.
Our business and prospects will heavily depend on our ability to develop, maintain, protect and strengthen the “Lucid” brand association with luxury and technological excellence. Promoting and positioning our brand will likely depend significantly on our ability to provide a consistently high-quality customer experience, an area in which we have limited experience. To promote our brand, we will be required to invest in, and over time change our customer development and branding practices, which could result in substantially increased expenses, including the need to use public relations and advertising firms. Our ability to successfully position our brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our competitors’ vehicles or our competitors’ success. For example, certain of our competitors have been subject to significant scrutiny for incidents involving their self-driving technology and battery fires, which could result in similar scrutiny of us.
In particular, any negative publicity, whether or not factual, can quickly proliferate on social media and harm consumer perception and confidence in our brand. The growing use of social media increases the speed with which information and opinions can be shared and, thus, accelerate the impact on a company’s reputation. If we fail to correct or mitigate misinformation or negative information, including information proliferated through social media or traditional media channels, about us, the products we offer, our customer experience, or any aspect of our brand, our business, sales and results of operations could adversely impact us. From time-to-time, our vehicles or those of our competitors may be evaluated and reviewed by third parties. Perceptions of our offerings in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews, which are disseminated via various media, including the internet. Any negative reviews or reviews which compare us unfavorably to competitors could adversely affect consumer perception about our vehicles and reduce demand for our vehicles, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, prospects and financial condition.
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Our sales will depend in part on our ability to establish and maintain confidence in our long-term business prospects among consumers, the investment community and others within our industry.
Consumers may be less likely to purchase our products if they do not believe that our business will succeed or that our operations, including service and customer support operations, will continue for many years. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they are not convinced that our business will succeed. Accordingly, to build, maintain and grow our business, we must establish and maintain confidence among customers, suppliers, the investment community and other parties with respect to our liquidity and long-term business prospects.
Maintaining such confidence may be difficult as a result of many factors, including our limited operating history, others’ unfamiliarity with our products, uncertainty regarding the future of electric vehicles, any delays in scaling production, delivery and service operations to meet demand, competition and our production and sales performance compared with market expectations. Many of these factors are largely outside of our control, and any negative perceptions about our long-term business prospects, even if exaggerated or unfounded, would likely harm our business and make it more difficult to raise additional capital in the future. In addition, as discussed above, a significant number of new electric vehicle companies have recently entered the automotive industry, which is an industry that has historically been associated with significant barriers to entry and a high rate of failure. Certain of these new entrants or other traditional automotive manufacturers now producing electric vehicles have become insolvent, and if additional manufacturers producing electric vehicles become insolvent or are perceived to likely become insolvent, discontinue production of electric vehicles, produce vehicles that do not perform as expected or otherwise fail to meet expectations, such failures may have the effect of increasing scrutiny of others in the industry, including us, and further challenging customer, supplier and the investment community’s confidence in our long-term prospects.
We do not have a third-party retail product distribution and full-service network.
Third-party dealer networks are the traditional method of vehicle sales distribution and service. Currently, we sell directly to consumers; therefore, we do not have a traditional dealer product distribution and service network. We have limited experience distributing directly to consumers, and we expect that continuing to build a national and global in-house sales and marketing function, including an expanded physical sales, marketing and service footprint via our Lucid studios and service centers, will be expensive and time consuming. We have experienced delays in the construction and opening of our Lucid studios and service centers and any significant delays to establish Lucid studios and service centers in key markets in the future could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, prospects and financial condition. In addition, if our lack of a traditional dealer distribution and service network results in lost opportunities to generate sales, it could limit our ability to grow. Moreover, our business model of selling directly to consumers and directly servicing all vehicles may be limited by regulatory constraints. To the extent we are unable to successfully execute on such plans in all markets, we may be required to develop a third-party dealer distribution and service network, including developing and implementing the necessary information technology infrastructure to support them, which may prove costly, time-consuming or ineffective. If our use of an in-house sales, marketing and service team is not effective, our results of operations and financial conditions could be adversely affected.
Our ability to generate meaningful product revenue will depend on consumer adoption of electric vehicles.
We are developing and producing only electric vehicles and, accordingly, our ability to generate meaningful product revenue will highly depend on sustained consumer demand for alternative fuel vehicles in general and electric vehicles in particular. If the market for electric vehicles does not develop as we expect or develops more slowly than we expect, or if there is a decrease in consumer demand for electric vehicles, these factors may harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. The market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles is relatively new, rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, additional competitors, evolving government regulation (including government incentives and subsidies) and industry standards, frequent new vehicle announcements and changing consumer demands and behaviors. Any number of changes in the industry could negatively affect consumer demand for electric vehicles in general and our electric vehicles in particular.
In addition, demand for electric vehicles may be affected by factors directly impacting automobile prices or the cost of purchasing and operating automobiles such as sales and financing incentives including tax credits, prices of raw materials and parts and components, cost of fuel, availability of consumer credit, interest rates, and governmental regulations, including tariffs, import regulation and other taxes. Volatility in demand may lead to lower vehicle unit sales, which may result in downward price pressure and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Further, sales of vehicles in the automotive industry tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to increased volatility, especially as we expand and adjust our operations and retail strategies. Specifically, it is uncertain how such macroeconomic factors will impact us as a new entrant in an industry that has globally been experiencing a recent decline in sales.
Other factors that may influence the adoption of electric vehicles include:
•perceptions about electric vehicle quality, safety, design, performance and cost;
•perceptions about the limited range over which electric vehicles may be driven on a single battery charge;
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•perceptions about the total cost of ownership of electric vehicles, including the initial purchase price and operating and maintenance costs, both including and excluding the effect of government and other subsidies and incentives designed to promote the purchase of electric vehicles;
•concerns about electric grid capacity and reliability;
•perceptions about the sustainability and environmental impact of electric vehicles, including with respect to both the sourcing and disposal of materials for electric vehicle batteries and the generation of electricity provided in the electric grid;
•the availability of other alternative fuel vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles;
•improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine;
•the quality and availability of service for electric vehicles, especially in international markets;
•volatility in the cost of oil and gasoline;
•government regulations and economic incentives promoting fuel efficiency and alternate forms of energy;
•access to charging stations compatible with our vehicles and cost to charge an electric vehicle, especially in international markets, and related infrastructure costs and standardization;
•the availability of tax and other governmental incentives to purchase and operate electric vehicles or future regulation requiring increased use of nonpolluting vehicles; and
•macroeconomic factors.
The influence of any of the factors described above or any other factors may cause a general reduction in consumer demand for electric vehicles or our electric vehicles in particular, either of which would materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
We face challenges providing charging solutions for our vehicles, both domestically and internationally.
Demand for our vehicles will depend in part on the availability of charging infrastructure both domestically and internationally. While the prevalence of charging stations has been increasing, public charging station locations are significantly less widespread than gas stations. Furthermore, public charging stations often experience downtime, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Although we have partnered with third-party electric vehicle charging providers to offer charging stations to our customers, the public charging infrastructure available to our customers may be insufficient to meet their needs or expectations, especially in certain international markets. Some potential customers may choose not to purchase our vehicles because of the lack of more widespread and reliable public charging infrastructure. In addition, although we have agreed to join Tesla’s Supercharger network, there may be delays in making changes to our vehicles or the network necessary for Lucid vehicles to charge at Tesla Superchargers, and there is no guarantee that our customers will not experience performance, access or other issues with this or other charging networks. In addition, although the prior U.S. presidential administration proposed a plan to deploy 500,000 additional public charging stations across the United States by 2030, the current administration has issued an executive order to pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including funds designated for electric vehicle charging stations through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program. Consequently, the deployment of public charging stations may not occur at planned levels, which could limit the development of public charging infrastructure and increase the relative attractiveness to potential customers of a proprietary charging solution.
If we fail to manage our future growth effectively, we may not be able to develop, manufacture, distribute, market and sell our vehicles successfully.
Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. We are expanding our operations significantly and our current and future expansion plans include:
•expanding our management team;
•hiring and training new personnel;
•ramping up the production of our current vehicles and releasing new models in the future;
•establishing or expanding design, manufacturing, distribution, sales and service facilities;
•implementing and enhancing administrative and business infrastructure, governance, systems and processes, including in connection with our maturation as a public company; and
•expanding into new markets and establishing sales, service, administrative, distribution, and/or manufacturing operations in many of those markets.
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We require qualified personnel, including design and manufacturing personnel and service technicians for our vehicles. Our vehicles are based on a different technology platform than traditional internal combustion engines, individuals with sufficient training in electric vehicles may not be available to hire, and as a result, we will need to expend significant time and expense training the employees we do hire. Competition for individuals with experience in supply chain management and logistics as well as designing, engineering, manufacturing, producing, selling, and servicing electric vehicles is intense, and we may not be able to identify, attract, integrate, train, motivate or retain sufficient highly qualified personnel in the future. Furthermore, we announced a restructuring plan in the second quarter of 2024, which involved the reduction of our employee workforce and may adversely affect our internal programs and initiatives as well as our ability to recruit and retain skilled and motivated personnel in the future. Any such restructuring plan may also be distracting to employees and management and may negatively impact our business operations, reputation, or ability to serve customers. We cannot provide any assurances that we will not have to undertake additional workforce reductions in the future. The failure to identify, attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these employees could seriously harm our business and prospects. In addition, our employee equity program is a key factor in our ability to attract and retain talent and continue to support the growth of the company. If we are unable to grant equity awards, or if we are forced to reduce the value of equity awards to be received by the employees for any reason, we may not be able to attract, hire and retain the personnel necessary for our business, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our success is substantially dependent upon the continued service and performance of our senior management team and key technical and vehicle management personnel. If any key employees were to separate their employment with us, such separation would likely increase the difficulty of managing our current operations and future growth and heighten the foregoing risks.
We also have limited experience to date in high volume manufacturing of our vehicles. We cannot assure our investors that we will be able to develop and implement efficient, automated, low-cost manufacturing capabilities and processes, and reliable sources of component supply that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes, required to successfully market our vehicles. We have also experienced, and may continue to experience, internal and external logistics challenges with respect to our manufacturing and warehousing facilities, including disruption to manufacturing operations due to the consolidation of our logistics operations with our manufacturing operations at AMP-1 and AMP-2. Any failure to develop and implement such manufacturing processes and capabilities within our projected costs and timelines could impact our future growth and impair our ability to produce, market, service and sell or lease our vehicles successfully. In addition, our rapid growth, competitive real estate markets, and increasing rental rates, may hinder our ability to obtain suitable space to accommodate our growing operations or to renew existing leases on terms favorable to us, if at all. Any failure to obtain or renew leases for real property on terms favorable to us when we need them may limit our growth, impact our operations and have an adverse impact on our financial condition. If we fail to manage our growth effectively, such failure could result in negative publicity and damage to our brand and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We face risks associated with international operations, including unfavorable regulatory, political, tax and labor conditions, which could harm our business.
As we expand our international presence and operations, we will be increasingly subject to the legal, political, regulatory and social requirements and economic conditions in these jurisdictions. Additionally, as part of our growth strategy, we have been expanding and may continue to expand our sales, maintenance and repair services outside of the United States. We are also continuing the construction of AMP-2 in Saudi Arabia and may continue to further expand our manufacturing activities outside the United States. However, we have limited experience to date manufacturing our vehicles outside of the United States, and such expansion has and will continue to require us to make significant expenditures, including the hiring of local employees and establishing facilities and related systems and processes, in advance of generating any significant revenue. We are subject to a number of risks associated with international business activities that may increase our costs, impact our ability to sell, service and manufacture our vehicles, and require significant management attention. These risks include:
•conforming our vehicles to various international regulatory and homologation requirements where our vehicles are sold;
•establishing localized supply chains and managing international supply chain and logistics costs, including the shipping and delivery of kits for the SKD facility;
•establishing sufficient charging points for our customers in those jurisdictions, via partnerships or, if necessary, via development of our own charging networks or accessing those of third parties;
•difficulties staffing and managing foreign operations, especially in jurisdictions where no EV ecosystem exists and qualified personnel must be hired and relocated;
•difficulties attracting customers in new jurisdictions;
•difficulties establishing international manufacturing operations, including difficulties establishing relationships with or establishing localized supplier bases and developing cost-effective and reliable supply chains for such manufacturing operations and financing such manufacturing operations;
•difficulties controlling costs and potential loss of funding, including as a result of delays in the construction or ramp-up of operations at AMP-2;
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•difficulties or delays caused by local jurisdictions in implementing infrastructure improvements for manufacturing facilities;
•foreign government taxes, regulations and permit requirements, including foreign taxes that we may not be able to offset against taxes imposed upon us in the United States, and foreign tax and other laws limiting our ability to repatriate funds to the United States;
•inflation as well as fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates, including risks related to any forward currency contracts, interest rate swaps or other hedging activities we may undertake;
•currency fluctuations or localized inflationary pressure;
•United States and foreign government trade restrictions, tariffs and price or exchange controls;
•threat of a trade war among the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the European Union (“EU”) and other countries could impede the transition to electric vehicles, disrupt global supply chains, and delay the implementation of economic competitiveness policies;
•foreign laws, regulations and restrictions, including in the areas of supply chain, labor, sales, service, environment, social, governance and health and safety, and related compliance costs;
•increasingly restrictive and complex foreign data privacy and cybersecurity laws, regulations and obligations;
•changes in diplomatic and trade relationships, including political risk and customer perceptions based on such changes and risks;
•political instability, natural disasters, pandemics, wars, global conflicts or other geopolitical events (including the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, which affect global energy prices and disrupt shipping routes both regionally and globally), or events of terrorism; and
•the strength of international economies.
If we fail to successfully address these risks, they could materially harm our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
The automotive industry has significant barriers to entry that we must overcome in order to manufacture and sell electric vehicles at scale.
The automobile industry is characterized by significant barriers to entry, including large capital requirements, investment costs of designing, manufacturing, and distributing vehicles, long lead times to bring vehicles to market from the concept and design stage, the need for specialized design and development expertise, regulatory requirements, establishing a brand name and image, and the need to establish sales and service locations. Since we are focused on the design of electric vehicles, we face a variety of added challenges to entry that a traditional automobile manufacturer would not encounter, including additional costs of developing and producing an electric powertrain that has comparable performance to a traditional gasoline engine in terms of range and power, inexperience with servicing electric vehicles, regulations associated with the transport of batteries, the need to establish or provide access to sufficient charging locations and unproven high-volume customer demand for fully electric vehicles. While we have developed and started producing our first electric sedan and SUV and have completed the first two phases of construction of AMP-1 and the SKD portion of AMP-2, we have not finished tooling all production lines at AMP-1. If we are not able to overcome these barriers, our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition will be negatively impacted, and it will harm our ability to grow our business.
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The automotive market is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry.