The Lucid Air is assembled at two factories around the world–the main one is in Casa Grande, Arizona, and the second one is in Saudi Arabia, in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), some 80 miles north of Jeddah.
But while we haven’t seen any police department in the United States interested in converting an $80,000+ luxury EV into a police cruiser, the story is a bit different in the American startup’s adoptive country.
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A zero-emissions EV police car surrounded by dozens of gas guzzlers
A Lucid Air all-electric sedan has been converted into a police cruiser in Saudi Arabia ahead of the country’s World Defense Show. An official video shows the EV surrounded by dozens of gas- and diesel-powered military and police vehicles.
Several photos and videos posted online show at least one police-spec Air sedan has been prepped by the Saudi Arabia General Directorate of Public Security to make an appearance at this year’s World Defense Show that’s currently running in the capital city of Riyadh.
The social media posts embedded below (hat tip to Teslarati) show the American EV next to a slew of military and police vehicles patrolling the streets of the Middle Eastern country. Lucid’s police cruiser is dressed in the usual patrol vehicle attire, but it also has a pretty slick roof-mounted flashing lights box that doubles as a drone launch pad.
What could that drone be used for? We don’t know. Does it look cool? Maybe.
What we do know is that Lucid Motors is owned by an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds about 60.5% of the California-based EV maker and drive unit developer. So it makes sense that the country that forked about $1.8 billion to fund the luxury manufacturer last year would get an Air sedan that goes Woop-Woop.
But what do you think about this? Let Us know in the comments section below.