Can Lucid (LCID) make 1 million EVs a yr? CEO Peter Rawlinson stated that is his imaginative and prescient, and Lucid has formidable plans to attain it. After launching its first electrical SUV, the Gravity, Lucid will enter the mass market with its midsize platform beginning at round $50,000. Rawlinson stated that is “lastly after we compete instantly with Tesla,” however the EV maker has even larger plans to drive progress.
After delivering the primary Gravity fashions in December, Lucid’s CEO claims the electrical SUV is “destined to be a landmark product” with an EPA-estimated vary of 450 miles.
In the course of the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco final week, Rawlinson defined how the corporate plans to grow to be a powerhouse within the EV area.
Though the Gravity is an impressive-looking automobile, loaded with tech and a real 7-seater (not a 5-seater, plus two children within the again, as Rawlinson stated lots of its rivals provide), it’s what you may’t see that makes the electrical SUV so distinctive.
The Gravity achieves as much as 450 miles of driving vary with a 123 kWh battery. Rawlinson stated the truth that it could possibly obtain such an extended driving vary with so few batteries is a testomony to Lucid’s expertise, which he claims is the “most superior expertise on the earth.”
Lucid was the primary to launch an EV with 520 miles vary. On the Summit, Rawlinson claimed that “no one at this time is inside 100 miles of vary of the place we had been three years in the past,” referring to its luxurious Air sedan.
Lucid delivered over 10,200 autos final yr, up 70% from the 6,001 in 2023 and roughly 3,500 in 2022. Rawlinson stated the corporate is seeing “exponential gross sales progress,” however he expects to see issues decide up over the subsequent few years.
Lucid is launching new EVs and tech to spice up progress
Following the Gravity, Lucid will launch its midsize platform. The platform will underpin a sedan and crossover, beginning at round $50,000. In line with Rawlinson, that is when Lucid will “compete instantly with Tesla” as direct rivals to the best-selling Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3.
Nevertheless, as Rawlinson defined, “Lucid doesn’t exist to be a distinct segment luxurious producer.” Lucid is within the luxurious area “in the intervening time” as a result of it must be for monetary assist.
It’s the corporate’s tech that shall be Lucid’s trademark. With a few of the most superior tech in the marketplace, it can “cascade down,” decreasing the associated fee to mass produce EVs.
“We would like Lucid to be big,” Rawlinson stated. By the early 2030s, he envisions Lucid producing a million automobiles yearly.
Lucid plans to attain it by means of progressive steps. After launching the Air, Lucid’s first electrical SUV is now hitting the market. In late 2026, Lucid is scheduled to start manufacturing of its midsize platform.
Rawlinson believes Lucid can have a major benefit by then. For the reason that battery is by far the largest value to make an EV, with a few of the best expertise, Lucid will have the ability to provide a aggressive vary at a cheaper price level.
Not solely that, however Lucid can also be creating a brand new reasonably priced “Atlas” drive unit. Rawlinson claimed the brand new drive unit shall be “an absolute breakthrough” for Lucid and the planet to carry down EV prices.
The corporate is already licensing its expertise to different automakers, which may very well be an excellent larger enterprise for Lucid than promoting autos.
Final yr, Lucid secured a tech partnership with Aston Martin to produce its proprietary powertrain tech for the British automaker’s upcoming electrical automobiles.
Rawlinson stated Lucid is in talks with a number of others about related licensing partnerships. In line with Lucid’s CEO, EV adoption will proceed to climb over the subsequent few years, and a few OEMs shall be left behind. “The prepare is leaving the station,” he stated, and that’s why Lucid is open to strategic alliances by means of licensing its expertise.
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