Motors is in talks with the Saudi Public Investment Fund to build an electric vehicle plant near the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to become a center in the Middle East for the manufacture of electric vehicles at a time when its economy diversifies from oil, according to Al Arabiya.

The sources said that the Public Investment Fund, which is already a shareholder in Lucid, will provide the necessary funding for the factory’s site in King Abdullah Economic City, indicating that the plans are in an advanced stage but may change. The new Neom city is also considered a potential site. Manufacturing in the northwest of the kingdom.

Lucid is one of several US companies seeking to compete with Tesla, as the startup targets the luxury side of the electric car market, with its CEO, Peter Rawlinson, as Tesla's chief engineer on the Model S sedan.

Lucid raised more than $ 1 billion from the Public Investment Fund in 2018, an investment that was conditional on the company developing a site in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah Economic City is located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.

SOURCE ALQABAS