Growing EV player Lucid Motors is delaying shipments of its flagship Lucid Air in order to eventually deliver a “breathtaking” car, according to a note sent out by ceo Peter Rawlinson. 

The Lucid Air was originally slated to be delivered to North American customers in spring 2021. That timetable has been moved back due to Covid-19, Rawlinson says. 

“From testing activities to supplier availability to preparing for sales and service, Covid-19 has affected all workstreams,” Rawlinson says. “As a company we’ve worked diligently to minimise these impacts, and over the past year, Lucid has witnessed seismic progress and growth. Yet despite the excellent progress made in all areas, we now know that we won’t be able to start delivering Lucid Air this spring at the level of quality we insist on providing.”

It will be worth the wait, Rawlinson promises. No specific timeline for the release was given, Kallanish notes.

“I am wholly committed to delivering a breathtaking electric car,” he says. “If this means it will take a bit more time, then this is what we must do. I’ve recently driven the latest Lucid Air release candidate vehicles built by our manufacturing team in our brand-new factory in Arizona, and I am thrilled with how the car has come together. It’s the most captivating luxury electric vehicle ever made, with a design inside and out that will truly delight.”

Lucid recently announced that it plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company merger with Churchill Capital Corporation IV in a deal valued at $11.75 billion - the largest such merger in the EV space to date.