Lucid shrugs federal tax credit and is giving buyers $7,500 toward the Air

Lucid is giving buyers a $7,500 credit when purchasing some models of its luxury Air electric sedans. The company is the latest EV maker to offer a discount in what some auto industry experts see as a slowly developing price war for plug-in models.

The credit applies to select Air configurations of the Touring and Grand Touring models — but does not include the Stealth model, PurLuxe interior, or metal roof trims. The discount offer starts today and applies to US customers who order their vehicles by March 31st and take delivery by April 30th of this year.

The amount of the credit offered by Lucid matches the federal EV tax credit that applies to sedans that cost less than $55,000 and SUVs and trucks priced under $80,000.

“We think our customers still deserve a $7,500 credit for choosing an EV,” Lucid VP of sales and service Zak Edson states in a press release.

The Air Touring and Grand Touring start at $107,400 and $138,000, respectively. For the Lucid Air Touring, that means the price can drop to under $100,000 at base. Lucid currently only sells one model in the five-figure range, which is the entry Air Pure that starts at $87,400.

Lucid has already been offering a $7,500 savings for its lessee customers, which applies at the beginning of the lease. The new credit can’t be used on top of the lease credit, but customers who prefer to buy it outright finally have an incentive.

Lucid had to increase prices of its whole lineup last year due to production struggles. The automaker revised its production forecast from 12,000–14,000 vehicles to under 7,000 vehicles for its fiscal year 2022. The company will be announcing its end-of-year earnings later this month.

The new federal EV tax credits left a lot of manufacturers — and buyers — confused as to whether certain electric vehicles would qualify. Electric SUVs like Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and Tesla’s Model Y were initially categorized as sedans by the IRS. Ford and Tesla both lowered their prices in a bid to qualify for the credit. The Treasury Department later adjusted its definitions for which vehicles qualified. Tesla later bumped its prices back up.

As for Lucid, if it could somehow sell its upcoming Gravity SUV for under $80,000, then it could benefit from the discounts. But for now, the company could be offering these credits to clear out existing inventory.