Lucid unveils its driver-assist plan to compete with Tesla’s Autopilot

Lucid has announced its driver-assist plan for its upcoming Air electric sedan to compete with Tesla’s Autopilot features.

While Lucid insists that it isn’t competing with Tesla, many are seeing the latter’s Model S as the biggest competitor to the former’s first electric car, the Lucid Air.

That’s especially true since the two vehicles programs, which were both started by now Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson, were racing to be the first electric cars with a range of 400-mile on a single charge.

With the Air being delayed to 2021 and the Model S recently receiving an updated range made official by EPA, the latter won.

But Lucid has other tricks up its sleeve and plans to diffferentiate itself in other ways.

When it comes to driver assist features, it has now released its solution called ‘Lucid DreamDrive’.

“Lucid Motors, which seeks to set new standards for sustainable transportation with its advanced luxury EVs, today announced Lucid DreamDrive, a new benchmark in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The first-of-its-kind platform combines the most comprehensive sensor suite on the market with a cutting-edge driver monitoring system, all standard on the first versions of the Lucid Air. Taken as a whole, Lucid DreamDrive signals Lucid’s intent to deliver sophisticated assisted driving capabilities in its vehicles.”

The system has features very similar to Tesla’s Autopilot, but it has a driver monitoring system and a sensor suite that includes high-resolution LIDAR – two things that Tesla has stayed away from for its Autopilot and self-driving efforts.

Along with the Lidar sensors, the Air is equipped with 32 sensors including camera, radar, and ultrasonic sensors.

Here are the main features delivered by Lucid DreamDrive:

Safety:

• Surround View Monitoring
• Blind Spot Display
• Cross Traffic Protection
• Traffic Sign Recognition
• Automatic Emergency Braking
• Alerts for distracted or drowsy drivers

Driving:

• Full Speed Highway Assist (a combination of Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Centering)
• Traffic Drive-Off Alert
• Headlight Assist

Parking:

• Autonomous Parking Assist
• Pullout Control
• Maneuver Comfort Braking

Lucid says that the system is going to deliver more features through over-the-air software updates next year.

The automaker also says that the system is powered by what it calls a “high-speed Ethernet Ring”:

“Lucid DreamDrive is also the first ADAS system built upon a high-speed Ethernet Ring, a unique cornerstone of Lucid Air’s advanced electric architecture, which additionally serves as a fully redundant platform for key functions such as steering, brakes, sensors, and more. This includes redundant independent power sources and communications paths, fail-operational actuators, and fault-tolerant computation.”

Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors, commented on the announcement of the new product:

“Lucid Motors is laser-focused on delivering the world’s best luxury car, embodying the most advanced powertrain and safety systems possible, all designed and developed in-house. Our customers expect that philosophy to extend to the Lucid Air’s ADAS, and for that we’ve developed a highly advanced, future-proof system that brings forth an unparalleled combination of sensors and software.”

Lucid is going to unveil the production version of the Air electric car next month and should announce new production specs at the time.