2027 Lucid Earth: Everything We Know About the Future, Affordable Mainstream Electric SUV
Trademark filings indicate Lucid’s Tesla Model Y competitor will be called Earth, and it should start at less than $50,000.
What It Is
With Lucid trying to quickly grow its scale, the electric automaker is pushing to bring an affordable vehicle to market. Trademark filings made earlier this year suggest “Earth” will be the nameplate—but whether it will be an SUV that competes with a Tesla Model Y or a sedan that competes with the Tesla Model 3 (or both) remains to be determined. An SUV likely makes more sense given how popular the body style is worldwide, but a sedan that challenges the Model 3 could also show up in the future.
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Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson noted during a May earnings call that the company will build a midsize vehicle by the end of 2026. “We need to get a midsize vehicle, our volume vehicle, priced at around $48,000,” he said. Ideally, this model will allow Lucid to attract a wider audience and increase its sales volume, helping it achieve more market share and lower its costs. Its sub-$50K starting price could change by the time the 2027 Earth goes into production, and it doesn’t account for future inflation, but Lucid needs this vehicle soon to get its margins in order and keep up with the competition.
Why It Matters
With the Air having won the 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year award, Lucid is known for bringing stylish, innovative, and luxurious offerings to market. That won’t change with the Earth when it arrives in 2027 or 2028, as the model will offer premium features, but it won’t be as high-end as the Air is, at least for entry-level variants. Think of the Earth in the same fashion as what Tesla did with the Model 3 after it launched the Model S and Model X, two luxury vehicles that helped bring it profitability.
Reports suggest Lucid will build the Earth at the company’s production plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, and at its upcoming plant in Saudi Arabia, which is scheduled to begin producing cars during this decade’s second half with an annual capacity of 150,000 units.
Lucid has been under pressure from its biggest backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), to deliver better financials. Although PIF invested an additional $1 billion in March, the automaker needs to increase its delivery numbers. Rawlinson said the investments are being poured into factories, R&D, and vertically integrating manufacturing technology. Lucid had a difficult time with Air production, but Rawlinson said the company learned its lesson and that production of the Earth and upcoming Gravity three-row SUV will be better streamlined.
Platform and Powertrain
We expect the Earth’s chassis to be like that of the Air and the Gravity (shown above). Given its mass-production scale, Lucid will likely use this architecture for sedan and SUV models, taking its learnings from those vehicles.
In terms of powertrains, we expect the Lucid Earth to offer both single- and dual-motor setups. Rear-wheel drive should be the standard powertrain, and we expect an AWD dual-motor drivetrain to be optional on higher trims. Down the line, Lucid may offer a high-performance model to compete with the Model Y/3 Performance, but expect the Earth to appeal to a mass market when it launches.
Estimated Price: $50,000
Expected On-Sale Date: Late 2026 or 2027
Miguel Cortina is Mexico Editor at MotorTrend, covering the auto industry in the U.S. and south of the border. He joined MotorTrend in January 2015 and is an avid automotive enthusiast who enjoys playing golf, surfing, and running in his free time.
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