Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Swaha said that his country will start producing and exporting more than 150,000 electric cars by 2026.
This production is carried out in collaboration with the US electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors Company, which will soon build a factory in Saudi.
The Saudi government says it has ordered between 50,000 and 100,000 electric vehicles from Lucid Motors Company in the next 10 years. The Saudi investment in Lucid’s company is part of Saudi efforts to diversify the country’s economy away from oil as part of its Vision 2030 plan.
One of the ambitious goals of the plan is for at least 30 percent of vehicles in the capital Riyadh to run on electric power by the turn of the decade. On October 12, Lucid announced in California initial production and total shipments for the current quarter ending September 30, 2022.
The electric vehicle maker produced 2,282 vehicles during Q3 at its manufacturing facility in Arizona, more than triple the number produced in Q2, and shipped 1,398 vehicles during the same period. This amount remains in line with the company’s expectations.
Lucid believes the company is on track to meet the previously provided 6,000 to 7,000 vehicle production guidelines for the full 2022.
Lucid CEO and Chief Technology Officer, Peter Rawlinson said, the company will soon build a factory in Saudi Arabia. “We plan to start producing cars in 2025 and we will increase production in 2026 and 2027 to reach 150,000 cars per year,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, Khalid Al-Falih previously said that Saudi Arabia was the first country to host a Lucid electric vehicle factory abroad. “Lucid Motors started the construction work of its first overseas electric vehicle factory in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Falih said last May.
The plant will be one of three assembly centers for the California-based electric vehicle maker. As many as 61 percent of the company’s ownership is owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Lucid has set a new standard with the fastest long-range and charging electric car on the market. The company also announced a US$30 million lease agreement with developer Emaar Economic City for a plot of industrial land in King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.
Saudi Arabia would build three electric vehicle plants in the near future
