Lucid Motors from California has opened its first Canadian showroom, giving prosperous electric-vehicle buyers a substitute for Tesla and choices from Germany-based luxurious manufacturers.

The downtown “studio” — within the CF Pacific Centre Mall in Vancouver — opened Oct. 16. The corporate plans to open an outlet in Yorkdale Purchasing Centre in suburban Toronto, and a Montreal-area showroom at an unannounced location, each in early 2022.

Lucid stated it’s responding to robust curiosity from Canadians who’ve signed as much as reserve considered one of Lucid’s Air sedans, with beginning costs starting from $105,000 to $229,000.

“We do count on to see robust demand, which is why we’re investing in a number of areas,” Zak Edson, Lucid’s senior director of gross sales and repair, advised Automotive Information Canada.

“It’s under no circumstances cheap to construct studios and repair centres, so it provides you a way of our curiosity and dedication to the market, the place our expectations are.”

Vancouver was chosen due to its popularity for supporting environmental causes, Edson stated. The corporate’s underlying mission is “to encourage adoption of sustainable transportation,” which jibes with the British Columbia authorities’s push to spice up EV adoption and recharging infrastructure.

“Additionally, there’s an curiosity in luxurious automobiles and an viewers that isn’t solely receptive however able to buying this class of auto,” Edson stated.

AFFLUENT BUYERS

A survey in January by the Canadian automotive unit of the consulting agency KPMG discovered that 20 per cent of the two,000 on-line respondents had been ready to pay as much as $75,000 for an EV.

Whereas EVs made up about 4 per cent of recent passenger-vehicle gross sales throughout the first half of 2021, the choice is increasing, particularly within the center and higher ranges.

Lucid will discover itself competing not simply with well-established Tesla, which has two Metro Vancouver shops, but additionally mainstream luxurious manufacturers comparable to Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi which have EV fashions on the market or within the pipeline.

Excessive-priced EVs don’t qualify for federal or provincial rebates, however Peter Hatges, KPMG Canada’s nationwide automotive trade chief, stated prosperous buyers have much less worth sensitivity.

“They’re going to make some evaluation round worth for cash and uniqueness,” Hatges stated. Vary, efficiency and distinctive options shall be vital, as will match and end.

Lucid’s Edson stated he thinks the road of Air autos can win on that turf.

PASSENGER SPACE OPTIMIZED

The Air has the inside quantity of a long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class within the footprint of an E-Class, Edson stated.

“It’s the mix of all parts that come collectively into the product as a complete,” stated Edson, who joined Lucid in October 2019 after stints at firms together with California-based startup Seres EV and Tesla.

To begin, the Vancouver outlet has one automobile and a wide range of different shows, together with a mannequin of the Air’s motor, discount gear, differential and inverter — all of which Edson stated are compact sufficient to suit right into a keep it up suitcase.

Additionally on show is the in-house-developed battery module and “wunderbox” bidirectional fast charger, able to turning the automobile’s battery right into a stationary vitality supply for residence use or to recharge one other automobile.

Clients who go to the Vancouver showroom can use virtual-reality goggles to strive completely different colors and inside choices, backed by bodily shows.

Lucid will arrange service centres for every Canadian location, with the Vancouver operation anticipated to open in 2022. A fleet of vans would be the main supply of service.

“If we will restore that from their driveway or their storage, that’s our choice,” Edson stated. “Plus, we will do fairly a bit over the air to diagnose the automobile remotely or push software program updates that may resolve a lot of points {that a} buyer would possibly encounter.”

Lucid started producing autos at its Arizona plant in September and can start fulfilling preliminary orders this yr. Canadian prospects who reserved an Air might additionally see their automobile later this yr or early subsequent, Edson stated.