Lucid Motors has delayed production of its Air electric luxury sedan by a few months, to the second half of this year.

The company originally planned to begin deliveries this spring, but is now pushing the timeline back due to coronavirus-related delays, CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement.

"We now know that we won't be able to start delivering Lucid Air this spring at the level of quality we insist on providing," Rawlinson said. "We continue to make final refinements, and, largely due to COVID-imposed delays, are now tracking toward a start of production as early as we can in the second half of 2021."

Confirmation of the delay comes shortly after Lucid's announcement of plans for an initial public offering (IPO) last month. Like many other EV startups, Lucid plans to go public through a "reverse merger" with a special-purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) shell company. Public knowledge of a production delay might have made potential investors less enthusiastic.

2021 Lucid Air

2021 Lucid Air

This is the second delay for the Air, since Lucid's funding in 2019 that made the electric sedan and the first stage of the Arizona factory possible. In April 2020, Lucid said it was working toward first deliveries "early" in 2021; although that was before the final production version of the Air was unveiled.

The Air will initially be available only in Dream Edition spec, with 1,080 horsepower, a 503-mile range, and a $169,000 base price. An $88,000 entry-level model is scheduled to launch in 2022.

Following the rollout of the Air, Lucid plans to launch an SUV it's calling Project Gravity. Rawlinson has also hinted that additional models are in the works.

Lucid isn't the only startup automaker to delay production due to the pandemic. Last summer, Rivian announced that it would push back the start of production of its electric off-roaders to the following summer. The Rivian R1T electric pickup truck is now scheduled to begin production in June, followed by the Rivian R1S electric SUV in August.