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Lucid said on Monday it is raising $1 billion in capital from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), sending the shares of the luxury electric carmaker up about 8%. The latest investment by the sovereign wealth fund underscores a key advantage Lucid has in the race for survival among struggling EV startups. The Saudi government, which has a 60% stake, has invested billions in Lucid’s success as part of a strategy to diversify the Kingdom’s economy beyond oil. Ayar Third Investment Company, a PIF affiliate, will buy $1 billion in convertible preferred stock and will be able...

Electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid both suffered plummeting share prices after disappointing fourth-quarter earnings reports revealed stagnant production numbers. CNBC reports that shares of electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid plunged on Thursday following disappointing fourth-quarter earnings reports released after markets closed on Wednesday. Rivian stock sank around 25 percent, while Lucid shares dropped nearly 17 percent. Both companies cited stagnant production numbers and “existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties” as factors impacting results. Rivian forecasts production of 57,000 vehicles in 2024 — about the same as the 57,232 vehicles manufactured in 2023. Meanwhile, Lucid predicts production of 9,000 vehicles...

EV startup stocks Rivian (RIVN) and Lucid (LCID) sank Thursday after both companies reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue late Wednesday, and announced they are not ramping up production in 2024. Rivian reported Wednesday a loss of $1.36 per share in Q4 with sales doubling to $1.31 billion. Wall Street expected a loss of $1.35 and revenue totaling $1.28 billion. Looking to 2024, Rivian said it expects production of 57,000 vehicles, remaining flat compared with 2023. The EV startup also predicts consumer and commercial vehicle deliveries to grow by low single-digits in 2024. The company also announced that it predicts vehicle...

Electric vehicle maker Lucid is not in the fast lane to profitability based on a new report. Lucid, which targets the luxury end of the EV market, reported it brought in $150.9 million after selling 1,404 vehicles in quarter 2 and expects to hit its production goal of at least 10,000 vehicles this year, the company announced in a news release posted on its website. Far down in a copy of the presentation used for its earnings call, there were some other numbers. Some looked good — such as the $150.9 million in revenue. Then came the cost of making...

KEY POINTS: * Lucid said in a regulatory filing that it is cutting about 18% of its workforce, or roughly 1,300 workers. * In a letter to employees, CEO Peter Rawlinson said the job cuts will hit “nearly every organization and level, including executives.” * The company expects to take charges of $24 million to $30 million related to the cuts, most of that in the first quarter. Struggling EV maker Lucid said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it plans to cut about 18% of its workforce, or roughly 1,300 employees, as part of a larger restructuring to...

With EV adoption on the horizon, many still have range and charging anxiety. Will there be a charger available where I’m going? Will it give me enough juice to get back home? These are the questions a lot of potential EV owners are asking. Now, Lucid should be able to offer some reassurance to Air owners, thanks to a new home charger that can deliver up to 80 miles of range per hour plugged in. The company released the new charger as part of its line of new Lucid vehicle accessories. Called the Lucid Connected Home Charging Station, it makes...

Dear liberals: Pretty soon, your iPhone could be assembled in a country where homosexuality is punishable by death, and religious dissidents are sometimes beheaded. In what could be a victory for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s effort to attract tech companies to help diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil and gas, Foxconn, the Taiwanese consumer tech giant that’s one of Apple’s biggest contractors, has reportedly submitted a proposal to build a $9 billion factory in the Kingdom. WSJ reports that the kingdom “is reviewing an offer from the company, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, to build a...

There's a whole host of reviews of the 2022 Lucid Air electric sedan popping up online, from long-form written works to quick walkaround videos and lengthy first-drive critiques. If you can only find time to watch a few, we encourage you to check out our own Tom Moloughney's first drive review, as well as the latest from Throttle House (above). If you're not a Throttle House fan or subscriber, we suggest you check out the YouTube channel. Not only are its videos highly informative, but also hilariously entertaining. We will warn you, however, that there may be a few instances...

The euphoria around Rivian kicked into overdrive Wednesday as it debuted as a publicly traded company, with an opening share price of $106.75. If that sticks, it would give Rivian an implied valuation of $90 billion. The opening trade was nearly 37% higher than its listed IPO price of $78. That absolute eye-popping number makes Rivian one of the largest IPOs in U.S. history and puts its market cap above GM as well as one of its backers, Ford (GM’s market cap is $86.31 billion; Ford’s is $78.2 billion).That share price continued to rise after it began trading around 1...

KEY POINTS Shares of Rivian, an electric vehicle start-up backed by Amazon and Ford, opened at $106.75 per share on its first trading on Wednesday. At its opening price, Rivian is already worth more than automakers Ford and GM. ======================================================================== Rivian Automotive shares ended the day up 29% in their debut Wednesday, giving the Amazon and Ford-backed electric vehicle start-up a market valuation of $86 billion after one of the biggest IPOs this year. Shares of Rivian originally priced at $78 a piece Tuesday night, but popped more than 50% Wednesday when it opened at $106.75 per share, before paring...

About 17% of Cadillac’s 880 U.S. dealerships decide against spending for necessary upgrades About 150 General Motors Co . dealers have decided to part ways with Cadillac, rather than invest in costly upgrades required to sell electric cars, according to people familiar with the plans, indicating some retailers are skeptical about pivoting to battery-powered vehicles. GM recently gave Cadillac dealers a choice: Accept a buyout offer to exit from the brand or spend roughly $200,000 on dealership upgrades—including charging stations and repair tools—to get their stores ready to sell electric vehicles, these people said. ~snip~ Most dealers who accepted the...

The collaboration with Dolby will integrate Atmos in the Lucid Air’s new 21-speaker Surreal Sound system. As the first vehicle to ever feature Dolby Atmos sound, Air drivers will experience an immersive listening experience. Furthermore, the speaker system will provide enhanced audio safety features. In a press release this morning, Lucid Motors announced the collaboration with Dolby. The Surreal Sound system on the Air consists of 21 front, rear, side, and height speakers. All of which are optimally integrated and positioned within the EV’s interior. According to the automaker, the multi-dimensional sound of Dolby Atmos will provide an immersive audio...

Earlier this month, California-based electric car startup Lucid Motors ($LUCIDMOTORS) locked in a billion-dollar infusion from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Through this deal, the official sovereign wealth fund of the Saudi government is helping to put Lucid on track to produce its first commercially available electric vehicle, the Lucid Air, on the market in 2020, thus putting it in direct competition with Tesla ($NASDAQ:TSLA). Since announcing its deal on September 17, Lucid listed more than double the amount of job openings month-over-month, which is understandable given a billion-dollar influx in capital....

HAVANA – Fidel Castro suggested Thursday that his health is failing, saying that four years from now he doesn't expect to be following current events. In an online column titled "Reflections of Comrade Fidel," the 82-year-old Cuban leader appeared to be pondering his own mortality, saying Cuban officials "shouldn't feel bound by my occasional Reflections, my state of health or my death." "I have had the rare privilege of observing events over such a long time. I receive information and meditate calmly on those events," he wrote. "I expect I won't enjoy that privilege in four years, when Obama's first...