U.S. electric vehicle maker Lucid reaffirmed its plan to mass-produce the midsize electric crossover Cosmos in Saudi Arabia in the second half of 2027. It aims to enter the midsize EV segment where Tesla's Model Y and Rivian's R2 compete and shift away from a business structure centered on high-priced vehicles.

InsideEVs reported on Nov. 10 that Lucid said on its third-quarter earnings call that development of Cosmos and construction of overseas production facilities were proceeding as planned. Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli (실비오 나폴리) called the midsize car business a core task the company must succeed in.

The production base is the AMP-2 plant in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. Lucid's first overseas production facility is currently assembling the Air sedan. It has completed installation of press equipment and begun trial operations. Work is under way to build body and powertrain equipment and complete paint facilities. The target is to open the plant in early 2027.

Cosmos has entered the final prototype verification stage, including certification and crash tests. Trial production in Coolidge, Arizona is also in its final stage, and Lucid plans to transfer the production technology it has secured to the Saudi plant.

Lucid had planned to launch the model by the end of this year, but delayed the schedule to avoid repeating quality issues that occurred with the existing Air and Gravity. It will announce a specific reveal date and production start date in the first quarter of next year.

The starting price was presented at about $50,000, and Lucid is targeting a driving range of more than 400 miles on a single charge. It plans to use nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. The price and range are not yet confirmed mass-production specifications.

Lucid is pursuing a U.S. robotaxi business with Uber and Nuro using the same midsize vehicle platform. It is also working with Bolt in Europe, aiming to operate at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles.

Lucid also moved to secure funding. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), increased Lucid's loan limit by $1.75 billion. Lucid cut third-quarter cash outflows by 30 percent from the previous quarter, but free cash flow outflows still amounted to $1.04 billion. Successful mass production of midsize EVs and expanded sales are expected to be key to normalising management.