Luxury-Electric Automaker Lucid Motors to Launch its Much-Anticipated IPO Next Week

author: Eric Walz   

The Lucid Air sedan.

The shareholders of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital Corp IV have approved its merger with luxury electric vehicle startup and Tesla challenger Lucid Motors, paving the way for the company's much anticipated IPO next week.

As part of the merger with Lucid Motors, Churchill IV, whose shares of common stock, warrants and units are currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, will delist. Shares of common stock and warrants of the post-combination company, renamed Lucid Group, Inc. Units will no longer trade separately. 

Lucid shares will listed on the Nasdaq beginning on Monday July 26, 2021 under the ticker symbols "LCID" and "LCIDW," respectively. 

Lucid Motors is one of the most talked about electric vehicle startups since Tesla went public in June 2010 and its IPO will be closely watched by investors looking for the next big thing in the EV space.

Lucid was founded in 2007 as Atieva Inc. by former Tesla executive Bernard Tse and entrepreneur Sam Weng. Atieva originally planned to build batteries and electric powertrains to sell to other automakers, but in 2016 the company decided it would be best to build its own electric vehicle.

With its pending IPO and strong investor interest in EV companies and related stocks on Wall Street, Lucid Motors is well positioned to be a formidable rival to segment leader Tesla, which rose to become the world's most valuable car company last year.

As a publicly listed company, Peter Rawlinson will continue to lead Lucid Motors along with the Churchill IV's leadership team. Rawlinson is an auto industry veteran and former Tesla employee. He worked under Elon Musk as Chief Engineer of the Tesla Model S before joining Lucid Motors in 2013. He serves dual roles as both CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors.

"We are thrilled to complete our business combination with Churchill IV and become a public company," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors. "Lucid has further increased its momentum as we gear up to make the first customer deliveries of our Lucid Air lineup of electric sedans later this year. We are making significant investments in the long-term growth and innovation of our company, and we will continue to bring to bear world-class technology to positively impact mankind's transition to sustainable mobility."

In May, Lucid announced the hiring of key executives ahead of its planned IPO, including former Waymo Treasurer & Head of Investor Relations Sherry House, as its new Chief Financial Officer. Lucid said that  House will bring her "deep understanding of financial operations for both Fortune 500 and emerging companies."

Lucid's first vehicle is the ultra-luxury Lucid Air sedan. It will compete with high-end electric models from Tesla, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche. The top of the line Lucid Air Dream Edition, which is already sold out, will have a range of over 500 miles and produce up to 1,080 horsepower from its advanced electric, all-wheel-drive powertrain.

The more mainstream version of the Lucid Air called the "Air Pure" is available to reserve now with a starting price of $77,400, before any EV tax credits. Deliveries of the Lucid Air are planned to begin later this year.

Rawlinson said in the past that the ultra-luxurious and high-performance Lucid Air Air sedan will be the "world's most advanced electric car" and will define Lucid Motors as a company.

All Lucid Air models will come with 3 years of free charging from EV charging operator Electrify America.

"Lucid has built an incredible EV with superior, race-proven technology. We are excited to complete this combination and our significant investment in Lucid as it disrupts the EV market, continues to create excellent jobs for thousands across the U.S. and advances sustainable mobility for the benefit of the planet," said Michael Klein, Chairman and CEO of Churchill IV. 

The Lucid Air sedan will be built at Lucid's newly constructed factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company calls the facility Lucid AMP-1, which stands for "Advanced Manufacturing Plant." It's also the first U.S. auto factory built from the ground up solely for electric vehicle production. 

In July 2019, Lucid Motors hired Peter Hochholdinger from Tesla to serve as its Vice President of Manufacturing. While at Tesla, Hochholder oversaw the production of the Model 3, Tesla's first mass-market electric car. 

Rawlinson said that Hochholdinger's experience in manufacturing will help the company to launch the Lucid Air and other luxury electric models in the future. The company is also planning to deliver its second electric vehicle, which will be a luxury battery-powered SUV. It's currently in development at the company under the code name "Project Gravity."

Lucid Motors was well-funded prior to its forthcoming IPO. The company received a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2018, but its upcoming IPO could bring a huge influx of fresh capital.

No doubt that investors will be closely watching Lucid Motors as its looks to take on Tesla and others in the premium electric vehicle segment. 

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.