Starting luxury electric vehicles Lucid Group announced the official opening of its new studio at Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach, California. The location is Lucid’s 21st studio in the United States. Each serves as a showroom for the Lucid Air sedanas well as a space where customers can learn more about the company’s advanced electric powertrain technology.

The Newport Beach location further expands Lucid’s presence in Southern California and across the country. It follows the recently opened Lucid Studios in Costa Mesa, California; Chicago, Illinois and Houston, TX.

Most Lucid Studio locations are in major cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Washington DC. The studios will support Lucid’s “direct-to-customer” sales strategy, which was pioneered by electric carmaker Tesla.

The Washington DC site opened in November 2021 and followed the opening of Lucid Studio in Florida and another in New York.

Among Lucid Studio’s notable locations is the Lucid Group Global Headquarters location in Newark, California.

“Our latest set of openings helps us advance one of our core principles: to deliver the highest quality ownership experience,” said Zak Edson, vice president of sales and service at Lucid. “We will continue to expand our physical presence in 2022 to bring the world’s most advanced luxury electric vehicle to as many people as possible, while providing them with an unparalleled customer experience.”

Each Lucid Studio offers a digitally-driven luxury experience tailored to each client’s preferences, whether visiting in person, making inquiries online, or a combination of both.

Without a dealer network like other automakers, Lucid Studios offers the experience of seeing and touching a Lucid Air that is combined with what Lucid calls “an elevated digital experience.”

The locations also serve as in-person design centers, where customers can take a close look at the Lucid Air sedan and choose from various vehicle options, as well as place their order.

All Lucid studios feature a minimalist aesthetic, and most are located in high-end shopping districts.

The studios also offer the “Lucid Motors Virtual Reality (VR) Experience”, which includes a physical display where customers can put on a VR headset while seated behind the wheel (in the same seats that one found in production models) of a stationary VR Simulator. It allows customers to virtually sit behind and interact with vehicle driver controls as if they were in the actual car. The VR configurator also allows customers to finalize options such as interior finishes, materials and exterior colors and view them in VR.

The virtual reality (VR) experience from Lucid Motors. (Photo: Lucid Motors)

Depending on the configuration, the various Lucid Air models cost between $77,400 and $169,000 for the limited Air Dream Edition, which despite its high price, is already sold out.

The Lucid Air sedan now comes in three configurations. The lineup includes the very well-equipped Lucid Air Pure starting at $77,400; the Lucid Air Touring, which starts at $95,000; and the Lucid Air Grand Touring, starting at $139,000. All three are eligible for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500.

The Lucid Air sedan is being built at Lucid’s new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company is calling the new facility “Lucid AMP-1,” which stands for Advanced Manufacturing Plant. Lucid says its Arizona EV plant is the first-ever dedicated solely to producing electric vehicles in North America.

Customers who buy the ultra-luxury Lucid Air sedan can get help with financing from lender Bank of America. Lucid announced in December that customers can apply for financing directly through its preferred lending partner Bank of America online or use Lucid’s dedicated concierge service when ordering a Lucid Air.

Lucid recently began the first deliveries of the Air sedan and said in November it had more than 17,000 reservations. However, the Lucid Air is priced well above most car buyers‘ budget, so the preferred lending partnership with Bank of America may help Lucid sell more vehicles.

Bank of America is one of the largest auto lenders in the United States. It offers 60-month new car loans in California with an APR as low as 2.29%. However, the actual terms of the loan will depend on an individual’s credit history and income.