It seems like Saudi will be having some Lucid dreams in the near future. The US electric vehicle maker Lucid Group (LCID) will set up its first overseas factory in Saudi Arabia. Lucid, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund (PIF), said its new factory in the kingdom will have a production capacity of 155,000 units a year. To compare, Lucid’s factory in Arizona can produce 350,000 units a year. The plan is to serve the local market first, with production then ramping up to address global demand. 

The agreements are estimated to provide financing and incentives worth $3.4b to Lucid over the next 15 years to build and operate a manufacturing facility in the kingdom, the EV maker said. 

The ongoing energy crisis “really just fuels the transition to battery electric vehicles,” explained Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson. Adding that “the planet cannot wait.” While, Saudi Arabia’s minister of investment, Khalid al-Falih, said the Lucid factory is just the beginning. “I believe it unleashes the whole industry of electric vehicles here in the kingdom, our intent is not to stop with Lucid,” he boldly stated.