New US electric car company Lucid has signed a strategic partnership with Samsung SDI for battery cell supply and will also be building a $700m factory to manufacture its electric vehicles in Arizona.
The strategic partnership will see Samsung SDI become a major supplier of lithium-ion cells for Lucid’s first vehicle; an executive sedan which is scheduled to begin production in late 2018.
The recent collaboration has seen Lucid Motors and Samsung SDI combine to develop next-generation cylindrical cells that are able to exceed current performance benchmarks in areas such as energy density, power, lifespan and safety.
These jointly developed cells are crucial in that they achieve breakthrough tolerance to repeated fast charging.
The collaboration between Lucid and Samsung SDI is one which has pleased Lucid’s director of battery technology, Albert Liu.
“I have been very pleased with the results of the collaboration with Samsung SDI in developing a cell chemistry that meets our stringent standards,” he said.
“Samsung SDI combined their in-house chemistry expertise with massive real-world datasets and state-of-the art battery models provided by Lucid to develop a cell that is both energy dense and resistant to damage associated with fast charging.”
Lucid CTO, Peter Rawlinson, also praised the benefits of the collaboration with Samsung SDI.
“The breakthrough battery life demonstrated by the new cell from Samsung SDI will be of tangible benefit to our customers, particularly companies with ride-sharing services operating around the clock.”
Lucid to build $700m Arizona factory
One week prior to the announcement of their collaboration with Samsung SDI, Lucid announced on November 29 that Casa Grande, Arizona would be the location of its new $700m cutting-edge electric vehicle manufacturing site.
The company began making an aluminium prototype car in 2014, and is expected to reveal a production version of its electric sedan later today and to begin accepting reservations for the car.
Lucid Motors will begin production of its first model at the Arizona factory in 2018, and by 2022 the company anticipates it will have over 2,000 full-time workers at the site.
This Case Grande factory is expected to eventually build up to 130,000 cars per year after starting with an initial run of 10,000 in 2018.
Lucid will produce a model with a range of more than 400 miles with an expected 0-60 mph acceleration time of under three seconds.
Lucid unveiled the prototype of this initial electric vehicle during last month’s LA Auto Show.
Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 and has been based in California and mainly developed battery technology in its early years.
