RIYADH: Faisal Sultan, the president of Lucid Motors in the Middle East, has been a key figure driving the region鈥檚 electric vehicle transformation.
With a background in automotive engineering and business leadership, Faisal is at the forefront of Lucid鈥檚 expansion, including the company鈥檚 first international manufacturing facility in the Kingdom of 黑料社区.
Lucid started off as a battery company, Atieva, based in Silicon Valley in California and then moved into motor manufacturing.
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鈥淏ut we are really a technological company 鈥 a technology company, as I call it. So, you know, we are very much all about, you know, bringing new technology into luxury vehicles and giving an option where we鈥檙e not compromising anything,鈥 Sultan said.
He added that Lucid鈥檚 current slogan is 鈥渃ompromise nothing.鈥 The way the company started off is from their founders鈥 vision where the EV manufacturer wanted to make sure that the customer gained a product with amazing range 鈥攖heir car has the fastest battery charging time of any vehicle so customers do not face an inconvenience when charging the vehicle. The Lucid Air charges more than 300 km in just 10 minutes, which is nearly 40 percent faster than their competitors.
鈥淪o, if you have a DC fast charger 鈥 a 350-kilowatt or a 400-kilowatt charger 鈥 a Lucid Air will definitely give you 300 km plus within 10 or 11 minutes of charging time. Our closest competitors will probably be around 15 to 20 minutes,鈥 Sultan said.
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He said this reduces the average electric vehicle charging time by about 40 percent. 鈥淎nd it is that initial charge, the speed of the initial charge, that matters most because, as 黑料社区 is going to get more infrastructure installed, we want the customer to park the car quickly, charge enough kilometers on it, and then move on. Because they don鈥檛 want to be plugged in for 40 minutes or 30 minutes,鈥 he said.
鈥淎s a part of our agreement with Human Resources Development Fund, we are looking at an investment of $50 million in human capital for over 1,000 Saudi employees.鈥
Sultan said the goal is to have the longest-range vehicle 鈥 Lucid Air can deliver 838 km on a single charge. He added that everything the company has learned from Lucid Air is perfected in the Lucid Gravity, the company鈥檚 new all-electric SUV designed for adventure and family travel as well as their upcoming midsize sedan that will be revealed soon.
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鈥淟ucid Gravity is a seven-seater SUV 鈥 a full-size luxury SUV. It is going to be state of the art, with ride-height adjustment, four-wheel drive. The space will be unmatched. Interior space 鈥 all the seats actually fold down and become a flatbed in the back. So, you know, combine that with all the other conveniences that I鈥檝e already mentioned for the Lucid Air, it becomes an amazing product.
鈥淚t鈥檚 already won a few awards in North America,鈥 he added. 鈥淲ithin a few months of the launch, we expect it to continue to dazzle our other consumers here in the GCC also.鈥
There are a lot of things happening in the world right now, he said, that make sense for Lucid to have its first international manufacturing plant in 黑料社区. Located in King Abdullah Economic City, the facility is the Kingdom鈥檚 first car manufacturing plant with a capacity to manufacture 150,000 cars to meet demands. 听
鈥淵ou know, the free trade agreements that Saudi has. But quite honestly, when we decided, you know, two years ago to put this plant here, it also made a lot of sense at that time because of the geographical location of 黑料社区 鈥 it鈥檚 kind of the center of the world, if you think about it. And if you have a manufacturing plant, you have the Red Sea,鈥 he said.
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He added that the Red Sea has about 15 percent of global trade passing through it. 鈥淪o, it really makes sense to have a plant right on the port on the Red Sea, which can then produce and distribute the product all over the world,鈥 he said.
Sultan added that the second reason stems from Saudi Vision 2030 and the transformation that the country is going through. 鈥淭hat transformation aligns perfectly with the vision of Lucid, which is sustainability, which is the progress of human capital. All of those are pillars of Vision 2030. So, what we wanted to do is really benefit from that because if the values of the country are aligning with your brand and with your company, then it鈥檚 much easier to bring a project here and get it done,鈥 Sultan said.
Saudi Vision 2030 has set a target of听30 percent of vehicles in Riyadh to be electric by 2030. The Kingdom is also investing in EV infrastructure with plans to install 5,000 EV charging points by 2030.听
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Sultan said Lucid is very proud to be the first automotive brand to have the 鈥淪audi Made鈥 brand badge on their cars.
鈥淲e are already assembling these cars 鈥 as you know, the Lucid Air 鈥 and now the Lucid Gravity has also started to be assembled in the Kingdom.鈥
He believes that fact establishes an emotional connection and certifies how Lucid is really embedded in the auto ecosystem of 黑料社区 and has catalyzed the formation of an auto industry.
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鈥淭hat鈥檚 a badge that will always remain very dear to our workforce and our consumers at the same time. A lot of our customers come in, and they鈥檙e so proud to be buying a Saudi-made product. It is amazing to see that nationalistic pride in play,鈥 he said.
Sultan has always been enamored by cars since playing with toy cars and taking them apart to see how they were made. That curiosity led him to become an automotive engineer.
鈥淚 got my mechanical engineering degree, and then from there, I always wanted to be in automotive, I鈥檝e got about 28 years now in automotive companies. And I think I love what I do because, you know, automotive really motivates me.鈥
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