Lucid’s Air Alpha EV image : Lucid

EV startup and Tesla challenger Lucid Motors has now been reported to be in talks with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for a $1 Billion investment which would come in two stages with a $500 million investment coming first in addition to another subsequent funding which would come contingent on the SF based company hitting several production milestones as per Reuters.

The 11 year old startup founded a former Tesla Vice President has already raised around $130 million from various funding rounds till date.

With reports of a Tesla takeover being financed in part by the Saudi wealth fund, This would indicate an investment in a potential competitor to the EV giant as a huge cash infusion will serve as a good boost for Lucid which aims to start shipping its cars by next year.

Lucid planned to build a $700 million factory in the state of Arizona where its cars would be produced but encountered hassles securing the funding necessary for this but with a large investment from the PIF, The company stands a good chance of outing its EVs for mass market buyers after a long time spent making efforts on this.

Notable about Lucid is that Jia Yueting, the CEO of Faraday Future, Another competitor in the EV space backed by billions in funding currently counts a 20% stake in Lucid which he purchased 2 years ago and might have been an obstacle to a larger funding round for the company with Yueting reportedly more reluctant to sell a stake in the company.

Lucid hasn’t yet made any official comments on this reported funding which sources cautioned might not result in a full deal later on with the matter being confidential as of current.

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