Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID) stock is up 46.72% in premarket trading on Thursday as of publication time, following Uber Technologies’ (NYSE: UBER) announcement of a $300 million investment in the electric vehicle maker as part of a six-year robotaxi partnership.
Under the agreement, Uber will deploy at least 20,000 Lucid vehicles equipped with Nuro’s self-driving technology over a six-year period across dozens of global markets. The first robotaxis are expected to launch in a major U.S. city next year.
Uber’s robotaxi deal
Uber is investing $300 million in Lucid, while autonomous vehicle startup Nuro will receive a separate multi-hundred-million-dollar investment to develop the Level 4 self-driving technology for Lucid’s Gravity vehicles.
“This investment from Uber further validates Lucid’s fully redundant zonal architecture and highly capable platform as ideal for autonomous vehicles, and our industry-leading range and spacious well-appointed interiors, as ideal for ridesharing,” said Marc Winterhoff, Interim CEO at Lucid. “This is the start of our path to extend our innovation and technology leadership into this multi-trillion-dollar market.”
For Lucid, the partnership represents a significant shift from its current focus on luxury consumer vehicles to the commercial robotaxi market.
Lucid’s first robotaxi prototype is already being tested at Nuro’s Las Vegas proving grounds, with the vehicles set to be owned and operated by Uber or its fleet partners.
Reverse stock split filing
Separately, Lucid filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC on Thursday regarding a special stockholders’ meeting to authorize a 1-for-10 reverse stock split. The company believes the reverse split will make its common stock more attractive to investors.
The reverse stock split would not affect stockholders’ ownership interests or voting power, except for potential cash payments for fractional shares. The proposal requires majority approval from votes cast at the special stockholders’ meeting.
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