The Cosmos of Lucid is currently being tested on roads in California. A disguised prototype vehicle was spotted on Highway 101 in Morgan Hill, about 40 miles from the headquarters located in Newark.
These four photos showcase the rear and side views of this SUV, which has a starting price of less than $50,000. The photos were published on Lucid, which postponed the launch of Cosmos to two months in the second half of 2027.
Lucid Cosmos Prototype vehicle makes its debut Highway 101
Reddit User u/always_trolled posted these photos on Lucid subreddit. The highway sign in the photos indicates that the vehicle is moving in the northward direction on US-101, heading towards San Jose. On the sign, one can see Morgan Hill city center, as well as East Dunne Avenue and Cochrane Road.
This car has a California license plate, and its body is covered with camouflage stickers in black, white, and gray colors, with messy letters on them. However, this camouflage doesn't conceal much.
Judging from the body contour, the roof lines drop sharply towards the rear of the vehicle. There is a spoiler at the bottom of the rear window, and a slender red light strip is visible in the cover panel along the width of the tailgate. This design is consistent with that of the Cosmos model, which was registered in Europe by Lucid in June.
From the side, one can see the flush door handles, as well as black five-spoke wheels with exposed hub nuts. Camouflage covers the entire rear fender area behind the rear doors and windows. In both of the side photographs, there is also a small green light shining on the B-pillar on the driver's side.
In May this year, a Cosmos prototype vehicle was photographed near the Lucid factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, along with a Tesla Model Y.
Lucid announced in March that the Cosmos would be equipped with a 69 kWh battery pack, offering a range of 300 miles and a starting price of less than $50,000. The company claims it has an efficiency of 4.5 miles per kWh, and it can replenish 200 miles of range in just 14 minutes. It uses a Atlas, which is a new drive unit from Lucid; this new unit reduces the number of components by 30% and is 37% cheaper than the existing drive units.
Lucid Cosmos Listing postponed to the end of 2027
The original planned mass production timeline was for the end of 2026. In August, the new CEO Silvio Napoli postponed the schedule for Cosmos to 2027, "most likely in the second half of the year."
Napoli said, "We will not repeat the mistakes of the past – products that were excellent cars, but in fact suffered because they were launched before they were fully ready."
Lucid needs this car. In June, the company carried out a 18% layoff, which was the second major layoff in four months; in July, Lucid's stock price plummeted by 40% due to a bankruptcy report, which Lucid later denied. The company stated that its liquidity is sufficient to last until the late 2027 period.
However, competitors have not stopped moving forward. Rivian began production of R2 in April, and its base version, which costs $45,000, is expected to be launched by the end of 2027, which coincides with the timeline currently set for Lucid and Cosmos.
Electrek Perspective
A prototype vehicle with camouflage appears on the highway, which in itself is not considered major news, but we will continue to follow this project because in our view, it will determine the success or failure of Lucid.
We believe that Napoli's decision to postpone its launch is correct. Earlier this year, when we evaluated Gravity, the hardware was outstanding, but the software was not yet ready. Lucid must not repeat the same mistakes in a model that needs to sell in large quantities, and where buyers are far less forgiving than the early users.
The issue lies in the timing. Lucid claims that its liquidity can support them until the late part of 2027, while Cosmos is not expected to go public until the second half of 2027. In other words, this model, which is supposed to help Lucid become a large-scale automobile manufacturer, will be available around the time when the company's existing cash is expected to be depleted. This means that before the first batch of customers is delivered, Lucid may still need another round of financial support from Saudi PIF, or perhaps from Uber.
And this product is worth preserving. Lucid claims that the efficiency of Cosmos is 10% higher than that of its closest competitors, and efficiency is precisely what enables the 69 kWh battery pack to achieve a range of 300 miles while keeping the price below $50,000. Lucid's power system is the most efficient in the industry, and we're very curious to see what they can achieve in models that are more geared towards the mass market.
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