Can Lucid (LCID) make 1 million EVs a yr? CEO Peter Rawlinson mentioned 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 mentioned that is “lastly once we compete immediately with Tesla,” however the EV maker has even larger plans to drive development.
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.
Through the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco final week, Rawlinson defined how the corporate plans to change into a powerhouse within the EV house.
Though the Gravity is an impressive-looking automobile, loaded with tech and a real 7-seater (not a 5-seater, plus two youngsters within the again, as Rawlinson mentioned a lot of its rivals provide), it’s what you’ll be able to’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 mentioned the truth that it could actually obtain such a protracted driving vary with so few batteries is a testomony to Lucid’s expertise, which he claims is the “most superior expertise on this planet.”
Lucid was the primary to launch an EV with 520 miles vary. On the Summit, Rawlinson claimed that “no person immediately 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 automobiles final yr, up 70% from the 6,001 in 2023 and roughly 3,500 in 2022. Rawlinson mentioned the corporate is seeing “exponential gross sales development,” however he expects to see issues choose up over the subsequent few years.
Lucid is launching new EVs and tech to spice up development
Following the Gravity, Lucid will launch its midsize platform. The platform will underpin a sedan and crossover, beginning at round $50,000. In response to Rawlinson, that is when Lucid will “compete immediately with Tesla” as direct rivals to the best-selling Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3.
Nonetheless, as Rawlinson defined, “Lucid doesn’t exist to be a distinct segment luxurious producer.” Lucid is within the luxurious house “for the time being” as a result of it must be for monetary help.
It’s the corporate’s tech that will likely be Lucid’s trademark. With a number of the most superior tech available on the market, it’s going to “cascade down,” lowering the price to mass produce EVs.
“We would like Lucid to be large,” Rawlinson mentioned. By the early 2030s, he envisions Lucid producing a million automobiles yearly.
Lucid plans to attain it by way 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 could have a big benefit by then. For the reason that battery is by far the most important value to make an EV, with a number of the most effective expertise, Lucid will have the ability to provide a aggressive vary at a lower cost level.
Not solely that, however Lucid can also be growing a brand new inexpensive “Atlas” drive unit. Rawlinson claimed the brand new drive unit will likely be “an absolute breakthrough” for Lucid and the planet to convey down EV prices.
The corporate is already licensing its expertise to different automakers, which might be a fair larger enterprise for Lucid than promoting automobiles.
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 mentioned Lucid is in talks with a number of others about comparable licensing partnerships. In response to Lucid’s CEO, EV adoption will proceed to climb over the subsequent few years, and a few OEMs will likely be left behind. “The prepare is leaving the station,” he mentioned, and that’s why Lucid is open to strategic alliances by way of licensing its expertise.
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