Lucid to begin deliveries of its Air luxury sedan next month

Lucid Group says production of its new electric luxury sedans has begun and it will start delivering cars to customers by the end of October.

Why it matters: The Lucid Air, starting at $77,400, is among a slew of plug-in models like the Mercedes Benz EQS, Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron all hoping to challenge Tesla's control of the EV market.

• Lucid's first car, the Air Dream Edition, is a $169,000 special edition with a Tesla-beating range of up to 520 miles.

Driving the news: Lucid, founded by former Tesla engineer Peter Rawlinson, had its official coming out party on Tuesday.

• The company invited media, investors and customers for a behind-the-scenes look at its powertrain and assembly plants in Casa Grande, Arizona, as the first customer-ready models rolled off the line.
• Lucid said it has 13,000 Air reservations so far, and is striving to produce 520 of the Dream Edition models this year, with production of less expensive versions ramping up next year to 30,000 vehicles.

Between the lines: Lucid's secret sauce is proprietary EV technology that packs more energy into a smaller package.

• That translates into a lighter, more efficient, and less expensive EV, the company explained.

Bonus: After the factory tour, Lucid let select reporters drive the Air for the first time.

• I drove the Dream Edition R, which maximizes the driving range over performance, leaving me with a mere 933 horsepower to overtake ordinary gasoline cars on the highway.

A key takeaway of my (brief) time behind the wheel: The Lucid Air is two cars in one. It's both a sublime luxury sedan and a powerful, thrilling sports car.