- The Lucid Midsize project is a crossover meant to start at around $50,000.
- From what we can see, this model may have traditional mechanical door handles.
- The crossover should go on sale in 2026.
Despite their high prices and occasionally buggy software, there’s still a lot to love about Lucid Motors’ cars. Think of the Lucid Gravity and Lucid Air as the Tesla Model X and Model S with more style, upgraded, and without the Elon Musk baggage. But those cars are all expensive.
Fortunately, the startup brand has been open about its intent to expand outward to more accessible market segments. That starts with a mysterious model that it says will cost just under $50,000 and is currently referred to as “Project Midsize.” Now we’ve got the closest look yet at Lucid’s midsized project, this time from Lucid itself.
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The image was released today alongside Lucid’s announcements about new developments in autonomous vehicle technology, including plans to deliver Level 4 driverless vehicles over time by leveraging Nvidia chips and software.
Of course, this is just a teaser image. The full design is shrouded in darkness and hidden behind a similarly obscured Lucid Gravity. Still, there’s a lot we can learn.
The midsize EV is clearly a crossover. Like the Gravity SUV, it looks relatively low-slung in proportion. The roofline looks coupe-like, with what seems to be a really high-mounted rear window, akin to this car’s likely direct rival—the Tesla Model Y. The taillights are skinny, while the Lucid script logo occupies quite a bit of real estate on the rear fascia.
When we turn up the brightness on the teaser, we get a hit of the car’s glass. The D-pillar glass is downturned, similar to what we’ve seen on the Gravity, but slightly different from the last teaser we got from Lucid.
Photo by: Lucid Motors
Interestingly, the door handles on the Midsize crossover don’t appear to be totally flush, like the Air and Gravity. Perhaps the Lucid has seen the writing on the wall for electronic door handles, given the increased scrutiny they’ve faced globally in recent months.
This is a very important project for Lucid. The Gravity and Air are good cars, but expensive and thus volume-capped. Lucid is looking to the midsize models to unlock far more scale and a much broader customer base, just like Tesla did with the Model 3 and Model Y.
Lucid plans to start production of this model by late 2026, with a starting price of around $50,000. The car itself is said to have some breakthroughs in cost compared to the Air and Gravity EVs—namely, lower-cost motors that should help the company get its costs down. Also, like Lucid’s existing Gravity, the midsize EV will benefit from Lucid’s new partnership with Nvidia for assisted driving features.
Of course, Lucid is facing an incredibly crowded EV crossover market. Since Lucid announced its intention to enter the not-as-expensive crossover market, everyone’s figured out how to make one of their own. Audi, BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz have competitors that are already on sale. Similarly, Lucid sees the midsize project as part of its big push in Europe; there will face not only the same EV competitors as in the U.S., but also very competent EVs from China.
And we can’t forget about the Rivian R2, one of the most important EVs to go on sale next year. Rivian’s cheaper EV SUV will be priced directly against the Lucid—at $45,000—and should go on sale roughly at the same time. Lucid is facing some tough competition.
But this seems like an interesting entry into that field. The Lucid Air and Gravity are generally good vehicles. If we can get a cheaper car that has the aspects of those models, then it’s a win in my book.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
