Electric car goes into production in US with a 520-mile range – 115 more than Tesla
A high performance electric car has gone into production in the US with a certified range of 520 miles – the longest currently on the open market.
The Air Dream model by Tesla rival Lucid received good reviews from American media over the weekend, after it went into mass manufacture at its Arizona factory last week.
The range rating by the US government is significant as, although the car is a high-end model, its ex-Tesla executive creator told CNN the development of such a long-range could have a trickle down impact on the general market, where some sceptics are known to be reluctant to acquire a technology that is perceived to have limited range.
Interest in electric vehicles is reported to have surged in the UK in the last week or so as a result of the fuel crisis, which has seen long queues for petrol outside service stations.
Lucid’s CEO is British-born engineer Peter Rawlinson
The Air Dream Edition, which costs just short of $170,000 (£124,000) in the US, travels about 28% – or 115 miles – further on a full charge than Tesla’s Model S, which Lucid Group’s British-born CEO Peter Rawlinson helped develop. It also has more than 1,000 horsepower, which means it can do 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds.
A cheaper model, the $131,000 (£101,000) Grand Touring version, has a 516-mile range. Two even cheaper versions have shorter ranges.
It’s possible to pre-order a Lucid Air in the UK, but it is not known when deliveries will start.
Tesla has already announced two other vehicles that have a range that is similar to, or exceeds that of the Lucid Air Dream, but neither are yet being manufactured.
The Air Dream also charges more quickly than Teslas, according to Lucid, with enough charge after 20 minutes to drive 300 miles.
In the US, the cars will start to be delivered from late October, posing a major challenge to Tesla, the market leader in luxury electric vehicles, whose sales of premium models have stagnated.
Lucid, which makes its Air cars at its Arizona factory, said it aims to ramp up its plant’s capacity to 90,000 vehicles a year in the next two years.
The higher range offered by the Air Dream Edition and Grand Touring helped push it to a 23% hike in Lucid’s share price last month.
The Lucid Air Edition can do 115 more miles than the Tesla Model S, from Elon Musk’s Tesla. Pic: AP
Mr Rawlinson, at the launch event of the production model last week, said: “We’ve ridden customers of the fear of range anxiety. The next big obstacle is cost effectiveness of electric cars. We’ve got to get the cost down.”
The company, founded in 2007, was helped with funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2018 before it went public via a shell company in July.
Experts say the success or otherwise of Lucid may be, like Tesla, its ability to keep up with demand.
Sam Abuelsamid, a principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights, said: “The big challenge for Lucid will be execution… They have a very good car. It’s very attractive.”
“In the premium market, customers are looking for the latest and greatest.”
In addition, the electric vehicle market is due to be joined by another company shortly, Rivian, which is backed by Amazon and is now preparing for a public stock listing.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
Music festival cancelled as headliner pulls out
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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