Lucid teases its cheaper sub-$50,000 Cosmos EV in new video and images
Lucid has released a new teaser video of what looks like the Cosmos, its upcoming sub-$50,000 midsize electric SUV and the car that’s supposed to turn Lucid into a volume automaker.
The clip gives us the clearest look yet at the Cosmos’ lighting, front and rear, after months of camouflaged prototype sightings. But the car itself is still about a year away.
Same design Lucid filed in Europe
Lucid posted the 1 minute 34 second video on X yesterday. The caption talks about “elevating the experience of movement” and says Lucid can’t wait “to share this feeling with even more people.” It doesn’t name the vehicle, but “even more people” is about as subtle a hint at a cheaper model as you can get.
Two frames from the film show the vehicle at dusk. At the rear, “LUCID” is spelled out in red illuminated letters across the tailgate, flanked by thin red light strips, with a spoiler cutting across the base of the rear glass. Up front, a sculpted LED headlight with a row of vertical segments sweeps across a red body panel.
That rear end matches the Cosmos design Lucid registered with the EU Intellectual Property Office in May, which showed the same spelled-out “LUCID” tailgate and rear-glass spoiler. It also lines up with the thin red light strips on the camouflaged Cosmos prototype spotted on Highway 101 in California last month.
Lucid Cosmos
Lucid unveiled its plans for Cosmos and Earth at its first Investor Day in March. Both ride on the new midsize platform and start under $50,000, roughly half the price of the Gravity.
On paper, the Cosmos is impressive. Lucid claims about 300 miles of range from a 69 kWh pack, thanks to efficiency of up to 4.5 mi/kWh, which it says is 10% better than its closest competitor. It also claims 200 miles of range in 14 minutes of charging, and its new Atlas drive unit has 30% fewer parts and costs 37% less than the Zeus unit in the Gravity.
The problem is timing. Production was supposed to start in late 2026. In August, CEO Silvio Napoli pushed the Cosmos to 2027, “most likely the second half.”
That puts it on the same schedule as Rivian’s $45,000 base R2, and well after the Tesla Model Y it was caught testing next to in Arizona back in May.
Electrek’s Take
Lucid needs this car badly. It delivered 3,806 vehicles in Q3, down 7% year-over-year, while building only 2,954 after cutting the second shift at its Arizona factory.
The company is building hype a year out. It has nothing else new to sell until the Cosmos arrives, and the company reports Q3 earnings on Monday. They need to remind everyone what they are working toward.
A midsize SUV doing 4.5 mi/kWh would be best in class by a wide margin, and Lucid’s efficiency claims have held up on the Air. If it really lands under $50,000 with 300 miles of range, it’s a very compelling alternative to the Model Y and the R2, which still have room to take over market shares from ICE vehicles.
But Lucid has already slipped this car once; it says its cash lasts “well into 2027,” and the Cosmos is due in the second half of 2027. That’s a tight overlap. I think the Cosmos will be a good car, but can Lucid fund it all the way to customers’ driveways?