Electrical automobile start-up Lucid on Tuesday stated manufacturing of its first vehicles for purchasers is underway, with deliveries scheduled to start late subsequent month.

Lucid is the primary EV start-up that went public by way of a SPAC deal to truly produce a saleable automobile for shoppers. The milestone is essential for Lucid, which debuted on the Nasdaq in July and is considered as a front-runner to rival EV chief Tesla.

“I am delighted that manufacturing vehicles endowed with this stage of effectivity are at the moment driving off our manufacturing facility line,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson, a former chief engineer and vp of engineering at Tesla, stated in a press release.

Lucid’s first automotive is a $169,000 particular version of its flagship sedan known as the Air Dream Version, with an industry-leading vary of as much as 520 miles, in line with the EPA. The corporate plans to provide simply 520 of the Dream Version fashions, in a nod to the automotive’s EPA vary.

Pricing for an entry-level model of the automotive, the Lucid Air sedan, begins at $77,400 earlier than an as much as $7,500 federal tax credit score for plug-in autos.

Lucid stated it has acquired greater than 13,000 complete reservations thus far.

The preliminary autos being produced, together with Lucid Air Grand Touring fashions, are earmarked for Lucid’s studios, gross sales groups, and for buyer take a look at drives, in line with an organization spokesman.

Lucid advised traders in July that it expects to provide 20,000 Lucid Air sedans in 2022, producing greater than $2.2 billion in income, in line with an investor presentation. That is a slower ramp-up than different EV start-ups.

“Our emphasis is upon high quality, delivering an superior automotive, a automotive that our prospects will actually love, and delivering a luxurious buyer expertise.,” Rawlinson stated Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “That takes precedent upon speeding the ramp up of manufacturing within the quick future, however clearly subsequent yr we will ramp issues up on an S curve of manufacturing.”

Lucid is manufacturing the Air at a brand new manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. It is constructing what’s anticipated to be a multibillion-dollar facility, which is the primary greenfield EV plant within the U.S., in phases on a 590-acre web site. The power is predicted to provide an SUV known as the Gravity in 2023.

Lucid was based in 2007 as Atieva, a reputation it now makes use of for its engineering and tech arm that provides batteries to electrical racing circuit Method E. The corporate first centered on electrical battery expertise earlier than altering its identify and shifting to an electrical automobile producer in 2016, three years after Rawlinson joined the corporate to guide its expertise growth earlier than turning into CEO.

Lucid had some problem acquiring capital to fund its plans till September 2018 when it acquired $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. It stays the biggest shareholder of the corporate with about 62% of excellent shares, in line with FactSet.

The automaker is amongst a bunch of EV start-ups to go public previously yr or so. Others have included Faraday Future, Canoo, Fisker and Lordstown Motors. None have produced a saleable automobile for shoppers.

Lucid’s manufacturing begin comes two weeks after Amazon-backed EV start-up Rivian started manufacturing of its first automobile, a pickup known as the R1T, at a manufacturing facility in Regular, Illinois.