Lucid doesn’t appear to be an automaker guided by superstition, as it wants to grab the nameplate that brought Fisker’s demise. “Lucid Ocean” could become a new model in the EV manufacturer’s roster after it applied for a Class 12 trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
This trademark class is for “vehicles, devices, machines, and apparatus for locomotion by land, air, or water.” The trademark filing explicitly notes that it would be used to designate an “electrically powered automobile,” it adds to the list of other potential future Lucid model names, including “Lucid Earth.”
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Lucid's third model could be the Ocean
Once Lucid starts production of the Gravity SUV, it will shift some of its focus to bringing out a more affordable sub-$50,000 EV to market, which could be called the Lucid Ocean.
The application uncovered by Electrek, filed on May 30, is still pending approval. Given that the Ocean name has already been attributed to another company to designate an electric car, Fisker may still have some rights to the name, and there is a chance it will not be granted to Lucid.
When we learned about the Lucid Earth trademark application, we presumed that was going to be the name used for the manufacturer’s upcoming, more affordable midsize model. This new application suggests Lucid hasn’t yet decided on the name or has plans to launch more than one model. Perhaps Lucid is developing two midsize models, a sedan and a crossover, with Ocean representing the former and Earth representing the latter.
Lucid hasn’t said much about its more affordable model other than confirming it will be priced at “around $48,000” and that production is scheduled to begin around the end of 2026. The manufacturer will first put its Gravity three-row SUV into production, which is scheduled to begin before the end of 2024.
The Gravity promises to be “the best SUV in the world.” It will offer a Cadillac Escalade-level interior room and rival the Lamborghini Urus for driver enjoyment. Lucid boss Peter Rawlinson recently highlighted these qualities of the SUV.
Lucid says it’s still not profitable (it lost a reported $2.8 billion in 2023), but it expects to break even and turn a profit by 2025. Until then, it can rely on continued financial backing from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has invested a total of $5.4 billion in Lucid and has a 60% stake in the automaker.
Fisker was looking for a reliable backer to keep it afloat, but it didn’t find one in time and ran out of money. Nissan was reportedly interested and willing to contribute $400 million to help Fisker pull through. Still, in the end, that deal didn’t materialize after the Japanese automaker reportedly decided against using Fisker’s EV platform to underpin its electric truck.
Some analysts say that the market for expensive luxury electric vehicles has seemingly become saturated, and it is more difficult to sell such a vehicle in today’s market conditions. EV buyers are increasingly interested in getting a good financial deal, which is why so many automakers have slashed the prices of their cars. Lucid, for instance, dropped the price of its most affordable Air variant, the Air Pure, by over 10% compared to 2023, and you can now get one for $71,400.
So even though Lucid wants to draw a lot of attention to its upcoming Gravity SUV in the hopes that the hype will materialize in sales, it’s still ultimately not mainstream enough to be considered a true mass-market EV. That role will have to be fulfilled by the upcoming midsize model, which perhaps needs to be even cheaper than $48,000 to ensure Lucid’s success and continued existence in what appears to be a slowing EV market, at least in Europe and the US.
