Samsung SDI to supply batteries for startup Lucid Motors' EVs

Lucid Motors, a Menlo Park, Calif., EV startup, said it will partner with Samsung SDI as a major supplier for the lithium ion battery cells in its sedan set to debut next week.

The new battery cells developed jointly by the two companies will “exceed current performance benchmarks in areas such as energy density, power, calendar life and safety,” Lucid and Samsung said in a statement.

The base model of the unnamed “executive sedan” set to debut on Dec. 14 will use the Samsung battery cells in a 100-kilowatt-hour pack with 300 miles of range, 1,000 hp and a 0-to-60 mph time of less than 3 seconds. An optional 130-kwh pack will offer 400 miles of range.

While Lucid -- formerly known as Atieva -- hasn’t disclosed formal plans for using its vehicles for ride sharing, Tuesday’s announcement also hinted at the new battery cells’ ability to withstand rapid recharging without damaging their long-term viability.

“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,” Peter Rawlinson, Lucid’s chief technology officer, said in a statement.

Tuesday’s announcement comes on the heels of Lucid’s news last week that it plans to build a $700 million factory in Casa Grande, Ariz., starting in 2017. It’s there that Lucid hopes to begin assembling its unnamed EV sedan by late 2018 in time to put vehicles in consumer hands by early 2019.

The cars will be sold through a direct-to-consumer model similar to Tesla’s. Lucid hopes to sell around 8,000 to 10,000 in the U.S. in its first few years of production and gradually ramp up to as many as 60,000 annually.

Starting well above $100,000, the sedan will rival Tesla’s Model S as well as upcoming all-electric models from Jaguar, Audi, Porsche and Mercedes Benz.

Lucid -- a company of 330 people without a CEO -- is funded primarily by four investors, including LeEco, the Chinese conglomerate whose founder, Jia Yueting, also backed the now-troubled Faraday Future EV startup.