Lucid Motors just dropped the price of its critical SUV to under $80,000, but for buyers hoping for a federal subsidy, the timing couldn’t be worse.

Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) officially launched the Lucid Gravity Touring on Thursday with a starting price of $79,900, a strategic move to broaden the luxury SUV’s appeal as demand softens. However, the launch lands in a harsh new reality: the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, 2025, leaving Lucid to compete on merit alone just as it slashes its full-year production guidance.

The “Affordable” Gravity: What You Get

The new Touring variant slots in significantly below the higher-priced Grand Touring model, serving as the new entry point for the brand’s critical SUV line. While it sacrifices some of the top-tier performance, the specs remain competitive for the luxury segment:

Range: EPA-estimated 337 miles (542 km).
Power: Dual-motor AWD delivering 560 hp.
Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds.
Capacity: Seating for seven adults.
Battery: Smaller 89 kWh pack.

Orders are open immediately, with some configurations available for instant delivery—a rarity for Lucid, which has historically plagued customers with long wait times.

Lucid Pushes For Ev Tax Credit Extension To Boost Small Brands Through 2026 — Photo credit: EVXL

Production Forecast Slashed Again

The launch announcement was tempered by a sobering Q3 financial report. Lucid reported revenue of $336.6 million, missing analyst estimates, and cut its 2025 production forecast to approximately 18,000 units.

This isn’t just a demand issue; it’s a supply chain nightmare. The company cited a “Whac-A-Mole” of disruptions, including a continued global chip shortage and, notably, a September 16 fire at the Novelis aluminum plant in Oswego, New York. That single event has choked off the supply of aluminum sheet critical for vehicle bodies across the industry, forcing Lucid to throttle output.

The Post-Subsidy Reality

The $79,900 price point is psychologically significant—it sits just under the old $80,000 cap for federal EV rebates. But with the program’s hard expiration in late September under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, that threshold is now purely symbolic.

Lucid is attempting to offset the loss of incentives with raw value, undercutting rivals like the Tesla Model X and Rivian R1S on interior luxury if not pure specs. However, without the $7,500 cushion, the Gravity Touring faces a direct head-to-head battle with legacy luxury SUVs from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

EVXL’s Take

This is classic Lucid: brilliant engineering colliding with hard market realities. The Gravity Touring is arguably the car Lucid should have launched first—a sub-$80k, 7-seat family hauler with real range. Launching it just six weeks after the federal tax credit expired is a painful missed opportunity that highlights the company’s struggle with timing.

But the real story here isn’t just the price; it’s the technology stack. As we’ve covered in our analysis of Lucid’s partnership with Nvidia, the industry is rapidly pivoting toward AI-defined vehicles. Lucid’s decision to use the Nvidia DRIVE Thor platform to deliver Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities is their potential ace in the hole. While Tesla struggles to deliver on “Full Self-Driving” promises, Lucid is betting that Nvidia’s autonomous stack can help them leapfrog the competition in automation.

The cut to 18,000 units is concerning, but if the Gravity Touring can move volume in Q4, Lucid might survive the “valley of death.” If supply chain fires—literal and metaphorical—keep burning, 2026 will be a make-or-break year for the brand’s independence.