Lucid Motors, which seeks to set new standards for sustainable transportation with its advanced luxury EVs, today announced a long-term partnership with leading EV battery supplier LG Chem for its Lucid Air pure-electric sedan.
Full production of the Lucid Air is expected to start in late 2020 in Lucid’s new state-of-the-art factory in Casa Grande, AZ, with LG Chem battery cells exclusively powering standard versions of this luxury EV through 2023. The advanced battery cells provided by LG Chem effectively allow Lucid to lock in core volume production forecasts for the Lucid Air for the next several years, with additional agreements to be announced in the future for special versions of the EV.
“The agreement with LG Chem puts Lucid on the best possible path to production for the Lucid Air, ensuring the necessary energy density and cell availability to fulfill our promise of class-leading range to consumers,” said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors. “In the tireless pursuit of unrivaled levels of efficiency, we will continue development with LG and other partners for the Lucid Air and future new Lucid models.”
Lucid selects the best battery cell for each version of the Lucid Air based on data collected during comprehensive and proprietary performance tests, with the cells from LG Chem selected because they provide the ideal level of efficiency for standard versions of the Lucid Air. In conjunction with its proprietary battery architecture and flexible manufacturing technique, Lucid will optimize the LG Chem cells to meet or exceed all target goals for range, energy density, recharge/discharge rates, and more. In this way, Lucid will leverage the specific cell chemistry of LG Chem’s batteries to develop the most compact, yet energy dense, battery pack form possible.
“LG Chem is pleased to join as a core partner in Lucid Motors’s journey to produce industry-changing luxury EVs. With the world’s leading battery cell technology, safety, reliability, and production expertise, LG Chem will supply high-quality battery cells to Lucid Motors,” said Jong Hyun Kim, President of Energy Solution Company, LG Chem.
Lucid will unveil the production version of the Air in New York in April of 2020. In addition to the vehicle’s final interior and exterior designs, new details on production specifications, available configurations, and pricing information will also be shared. Currently, in-house development on what is intended to be the world’s most advanced electric car continues at a rapid pace, including battery packs with unmatched energy density and electric motors that are incredibly powerful yet efficient. Lucid is manufacturing 80 beta prototypes at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters, which will be used for comprehensive testing and validation for key vehicle dynamics, as well as crash testing to confirm exhaustive simulations.
[source: Lucid Motors]
