Bernard Tse, Sheaupyng Lin, & Sam Weng originally founded their electric car company as “Atieva” in 2007. After years of more intense research and design, the company decided to rebrand itself in 2016 as Lucid.
Some of the 500 employees had worked for other EV (electric vehicle) companies including Tesla and Mazda.
Peter Rawlinson, former engineer for Tesla, joined the company in 2016.
In late 2016, the company announced its plans to build a $700 million manufacturing plant in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company’s plan was to hire 2,000 persons and begin by manufacturing 20,000 cars a year, and to gradually increase production until 2020 when they hoped to build 130,000 cars each year. The factory currently has a maximum yearly capacity of 380,000 vehicles per year.
The Lucid Air, a fully electric car model, was unveiled in December 2016. The vehicle has two electric motors, the front motor having 400 horsepower and the rear motor 600 horsepower.
Lucid has an agreement with MobileEye to use their EyeQ4 chips. Each Lucid vehicle has 8 cameras and is autonomous ready, should this type of driverless mobility be approved for general use.
Lucid’s lithium-ion batteries are produced by Samsung and LG Chem.
The company has partnered with ElectrifyAmerica to use its nationwide charging network.
Lucid plans to open 8 showrooms, 5 in California, by the end of 2020.
The company maintains a corporate office in Newark, California.
Bernard Tse, Sheaupyng Lin, & Sam Weng originally founded their electric car company as “Atieva” in 2007. After years of more intense research and design, the company decided to rebrand itself in 2016 as Lucid.
Some of the 500 employees had worked for other EV (electric vehicle) companies including Tesla and Mazda.
Peter Rawlinson, former engineer for Tesla, joined the company in 2016.
History
In late 2016, the company announced its plans to build a $700 million manufacturing plant in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company’s plan was to hire 2,000 persons and begin by manufacturing 20,000 cars a year, and to gradually increase production until 2020 when they hoped to build 130,000 cars each year. The factory currently has a maximum yearly capacity of 380,000 vehicles per year.
The Lucid Air, a fully electric car model, was unveiled in December 2016. The vehicle has two electric motors, the front motor having 400 horsepower and the rear motor 600 horsepower.
Lucid has an agreement with MobileEye to use their EyeQ4 chips. Each Lucid vehicle has 8 cameras and is autonomous ready, should this type of driverless mobility be approved for general use.
Lucid’s lithium-ion batteries are produced by Samsung and LG Chem.
The company has partnered with ElectrifyAmerica to use its nationwide charging network.
Lucid plans to open 8 showrooms, 5 in California, by the end of 2020.
The company maintains a corporate office in Newark, California.
This is an example of a letter I am sending to all of the Leadership and Board of Directors of Lucid Motors USA Inc. detailing out experience trying to purchase and accept delivery of a Lucid Air Touring
02 January 2023
Ms. Sherry House
Chief Financial Officer
Lucid Motors USA Inc.
7373 Gateway Boulevard
Newark, CA 94560
Re: Lucid Financing/Identity Confirmation
Ms. House:
My husband (Laurence Best Esq.) has been dealing with Lucid Motors for a year now. We received the purchase agreement on 24 December 2022. Mr. Sam Thornhill was assigned as our delivery agent. In the 3rd week of December 2022, the loan papers were completed, and the loan application was approved by Bank of America. We informed Mr. Thornhill that we would leave our Pensacola, Fl. home on Wednesday, 28 December 2022, driving to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. anticipating the arrival of our Air Touring. From our primary residence in Covington, La. this is a 1,700-mile round trip.
50 miles outside Gainesville, Fl. we received a call from Christine at Bank of America stating they needed Larry’s BIRTH CERTIFICATE to confirm his identity. Naturally we couldn’t provide that documentation since we were hundreds of miles from home and driving at the time. After a heated conversation, we were offered the alternative of providing a utility bill. Again, we couldn’t provide the said document. My husband ended the conversation. He then called Mr. Thornhill and explained the situation. Mr. Thornhill informed us that the district manager was “working on it”.
We heard nothing and were offered no other options from Lucid Motors about this situation.
Around 5:00 PM on Thursday, 29 December 2022, we received a call from Bank of America to discuss other options. The only alternative that was offered was to provide a utility bill. My husband had a colorful conversation with the Bank of America representative and hung up. He then called Mr. Thornhill who asked if we had heard anything from Bank of America. Larry relayed Bank of America’s position and told him we would not be taking delivery of our Lucid Air Touring. That is the politest way I can describe that conversation. On 30 December 2022 I called Lucid customer service (888.995.8243) and spoke with Andre. He said that he would try to get someone in the “leadership team” to speak with me.
Numerous issues arose from this situation:
We were required to have a cashier’s check in the amount of $31,000.00 as a down payment for this vehicle.
-2-
Supposedly, without Bank of America knowing my husband’s identity, the car loan was approved. That in itself is frightening.
If Lucid handles financing/identity confirmation in this manner, can they be trusted to repair this vehicle when something malfunctions?
My husband and I both have Florida drivers’ licenses (which Lucid had in their records) that require a birth certificate to obtain, why wasn’t that enough to prove his identity?
Why weren’t we notified this information was required when the loan application was submitted?
Why didn’t Bank of America ask for credit references and financial statements to determine our ability to purchase this vehicle?
During our life we have purchased numerous luxury vehicles, namely Bentleys, Mercedes and Audis among others. Never have we been asked for a birth certificate or required to have a cashier’s check for the down payment. This whole financing/identity confirmation process was aggravating, humiliating, amateurish and quite frankly pathetic.
Not to mention the fact that we spent approximately $3,000.00 to install the appropriate charging outlets in all our homes (no mortgages on any). If gaining repeat customers is Lucid’s goal, then the level of customer service should be examined and improved. Presently, it is unacceptable.
Lastly, this letter is a formal request to be reimbursed our $1,000.00 deposit and $2,500.00 in travel expenses. Subsequently, we lost a $7,500.00 tax credit due to Lucid Motor’s incompetence. Plus, if we decided to purchase another Lucid (which is highly improbable) we lose the advantage of earlier pricing. The money we lost on this debacle exceeds $20,000.00.
A timely response is requested. And yes, a cashier’s check is acceptable. If a response is not received within a month from the date of this letter, further action will be taken.
Mr. Kory Chatelain
XXX Millikens Bend
Covington, La. 70433
601.550.XXXX
korychatelain@ att.net
Dear Peter Rawlinson,
Hello! I am a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School. I am doing a project in my Environmental Science Class, where we are focusing and researching Air Pollution. A main key in Air Pollution is car emissions which are harmful gasses that cars release into our environment, hurting our city. An Electric Lucid Motors Sample would extremely help us research this product indefinitely until we can find a solution in our city.