Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Lucid Group, the manufacturer of some of the world’s most advanced electric vehicles, officially launched the first Innovation Center for EV in the Middle East.
The new center will help Lucid expand its engineering capabilities in Saudi Arabia, advancing efficiency, localizing key components, and developing solutions tailored to Saudi conditions, according to a recent official press release.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Munir El-Desouki, President of KACST, Lucid CEO, and several senior officials from both entities.
The center will serve as a key platform that gathers local, regional, and global research expertise, reflecting KACST’s commitment to innovation and reinforcing Lucid’s leadership in advanced technologies. It will focus on enhancing the efficiency, functionality, and performance across Lucid’s product portfolio, contributing to their accelerated development, strengthening their leadership within their segment, and supporting the growth of the Kingdom’s future mobility sector.
Commenting on this milestone, Marc Winterhoff, Interim CEO at Lucid, said: “This new innovation center embodies our ongoing commitment to leading the advancement of electric vehicle technology, and our support toward strengthening Saudi Arabia as a hub for technological innovation. By combining Lucid’s engineering expertise with KACST’s advanced research capabilities, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our teams are eager to begin the planned work together, recognizing this research will help shape the future of sustainable mobility.”
In turn, Talal Al-Sedairy, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at KACST, affirmed that the center marks a pivotal step in enabling Saudi talent to develop future technologies in electric vehicles, batteries, and smart systems.
“This cooperation contributes to the transfer and localization of advanced, high-impact technologies, the establishment of new industrial value chains, and the strengthening of integration between the research, development, and innovation system, the industrial strategy, and the investment strategy, thereby accelerating the transformation of knowledge into products and technologies that support the future of sustainable mobility and enhance the competitiveness of the national economy,” he added.
Moreover, the center is dedicated to advancing research, supporting the dissemination of the company’s world-leading technologies, and playing a pivotal role in developing future products.