Lucid secures $3.4b funding for Saudi plant
What will Lucid bring to Saudi Arabia?
In April, Lucid Group announced an agreement with the Government of Saudi Arabia for the sale of up to 100,000 of the company's electric vehicles (EVs) over a ten year period and committed to build an international manufacturing facility in the Kingdom (see Middle East AI News 28-Apr-22).
This week the full extent of funding for the factory (known as AMP-2) was disclosed at an event in Riyadh, totalling $3.4 billion in financing and incentives over the next 15 years.
Lucid plans to first establish operations at AMP-2 for re-assembly, building its Lucid Air luxury electric sedan from kits that are pre-manufactured at the company’s AMP-1 facility in Arizona, which commenced production last September. However, eventually the capabilities of the AMP-2 production plant will be upgraded for full, export-focused production of EVs, with a peak forecasted production of 155,000 vehicles per year.
The new Saudi EV production plant is sure to be one of the most advanced of its kind in the world and will create over 4,500 jobs in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). So, what advanced technologies will Lucid bring to Saudi Arabia and what knowledge will it share?
Let's take a look at the Lucid Air.
The Lucid Air is the longest range, fastest charging luxury electric car in the world, with an unrivaled range of up to 520 miles per charge (that's 837 km). It's battery can be charged for 300 miles in just 20 minutes (or 483 km), while it can go from 0-60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds, and reach a quarter-mile in under 10 seconds.
Lucid's Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP) has miniaturised the electric motor, creating the world’s most powerful powertrain for its size and weight. Each unit can generate up to 670 horse power while weighing just 163 lbs (74 kg).
Lucid's DreamDrive™ Pro ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system) is built on NVIDIA's DRIVE Hyperion™ end-to-end, autonomous vehicle modular development platform, with the ADAS being integrated with Nvidia's system-on-a-chip. The company has previously commented that it intends to continue to collaborate with Nvidia on future product development.
DreamDrive uses four processors located on the vehicles corners, linked by gigabit-per-second (Gps) ethernet. The ASAS leverages data from up to 32 on-board sensors and a multi-faceted driver-monitoring system.
The sensors, which are seamlessly integrated with the vehicle, include 14 visible-light cameras, five radar units, four surround view cameras, ultrasonic sensors and, for DreamDrive Pro, a solid-state LIDAR sensor to deliver high-resolution data with an ultra-wide field of view.
DreamDrive offers more than 30 driver-assistance features, including collision avoidance, Traffic Jam assist, and Highway Assist. New features can be added from Lucid via over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
The interior of the Lucid Air sedan is equally high tech and optimised for user experience, with a 34-inch curved digital display above the dashboard, with touchscreen, core vehicle controls, a variety of apps and an Amazon Alexa voice assistant.
Of course, manufacturing one of the most intelligent and energy efficient cars in the world, requires a state-of-the-art production plant. AMP-2 will be equipped with cutting-edge industrial robotic automation. Manufacturing equipment and systems for AMP-1 were sourced from leading suppliers in Japan, Germany, Mexico, South Korea and the United States.
Lucid will also require skilled technicians to build the Lucid Air.
Lucid has already revealed that it will build and run dedicated training centres in Saudi Arabia to support skills development of the workforce. Lucid's training programmes for its Arizona plant (AMP-1) include partnerships with local government departments, training programmes and new curricula with colleges, and training centres equipped with advanced robotics.
One of the company's first steps in Arizona was to create a 13,000 square foot (1,200 sqm) state-of-the-art manufacturing training centre at the Central Arizona College. Called 'Drive48', the training centre features multiple assembly robots used for training technicians in programming, maintenance, operations, problem solving, and health and safety. Drive48 ensures that there is a pool of pre-trained talent to join Lucid's workforce, and hundreds of students have already received hands-on training at the facility.
Whilst it's unlikely that Lucid's new operations in Saudi Arabia will take any research and development focus away from its California headquarters, AMP-2's location certainly positions it well for any future R&D iniatives. Afterall, the new production plant in KAEC will be right on the doorstep of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). However, in the short to medium term, Lucid is likely to be focusing on local skills development for production, testing and servicing, paving the way for Saudi to become a key exporter of some of the most advanced electric vehicles in the world.
Find out more about this story:
Read this week's Lucid Group press release: https://lnkd.in/ddtgbdew
See Middle East AI News 18-Apr-22: https://lnkd.in/dCMdup79
Find out more about the Lucid Air: https://lnkd.in/dmhakYTn