California-based startup Lucid Motors makes some of the most impressive electric vehicles on the planet. Their designs are stunning, their tech is class-leading, and their straight-line performance doesn’t comport with the laws of physics as we currently understand them. But Lucid’s also had plenty of startup challenges with sales, cash flow, costs and more. Here’s one answer that could put numbers on the board right away: pickup truck.
This is America. The answer to a lot of problems is just “pickup truck.”Â
A recent sighting of what appears to be a Lucid electric pickup truck has us thinking in that direction. The folks at Lucid Forum posted this photo of a clay model truck, parked next to what could be the Gravity SUV due to make its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. Does this really mean a Lucid truck is coming soon? That’s extremely unclear. A Lucid spokesperson declined to comment on future products.Â
On one hand, there are obvious visual similarities to the Lucid Air sedan, and to the teasers we’ve seen for the new Gravity. It’s a handsome, sleek design, and one that manages to carry over the Lucid design language into a truck that feels fresh and new – not derivative of something like the Rivian R1T. But this is also very clearly a clay model, not anything close to show-car ready.Â
On the other hand, a more zoomed-out photo posted on X the other day shows the truck and the SUV next to a previous-generation Range Rover – implying this could just be a clay model design study of some sort, which automakers do all the time. In other words, this could just be something purely internal that somehow caught the light of day when it should not have.
It’s hard to look at this and bank on the possibility of a real Lucid truck, but clearly, the company has thought about it. It could well be an interesting game-changer for the startup company. While the Air sedan is extremely impressive and offers some of the best range you can find anywhere, it has suffered for being a sedan in an SUV world and for its high price tag. A Lucid pickup, of all things, could put that company into an entirely new segment of buyers. (And let’s be honest, it probably looks better than this thing does.)
We’ll get more from Lucid Motors this week at the LA Auto Show when the Gravity debut happens, and we’ll see if we can learn anything about any pickup trucks that may be in the company’s future.Â