EV maker Lucid Motors plans to take on Tesla’s top-selling Model Y and Model 3 models with an electric vehicle priced around $50,000.
CEO Peter Rawlinson recently spoke with ABC News in an interview about accelerating EV adoption and how vehicle efficiency will be key.
Lucid’s leader and chief tech officer said cheap electric cars with small, efficient batteries would get Americans to trade in their ICE vehicles for EVs and never look back. He said, “The feeling of the road, the feedback through the steering, the instantaneous torque – there is romance with an electric car.”
With Lucid’s least expensive model, the Air Pure, starting at $82,400, Rawlinson was asked about building a vehicle that’s under $60,000.
Rawlinson responded, “That is exactly why I go to work. I am not here to build an expensive car that only rich people can afford.”
Lucid started with premium products because that’s “the only way I could make the business work financially,” according to Rawlinson.
Lucid aims for $50K EV to rival Tesla Model Y
He went on to explain that the technology Lucid is developing will be “the key to unlocking greater efficiency.” To that end, Rawlinson explained:
We are targeting a price — and don’t hold me to this — around $50,000. That’s the vision. Right in the heart of Tesla Model 3, Model Y territory.
Although Rawlinson would like to go lower, he says this is the best the company can do by the mid to late decade.
What the word really needs “is the $25,000 electric car,” which will be a consequence of the technology being developed today.
As for charging, Rawlinson said around 86% of Lucid customers charge at home overnight, which puts less stress on the grid. He said it’s very rare for people to drive over 500 miles a day, so 99% of the time, you can leave your home fully charged without needing to stop.
As charging infrastructure continues rolling out, you won’t need a 500-mile range EV, Rawlinson said, “I think the electric car of the future will be more like 150 miles of range – if we have mature infrastructure.”
The news comes after Lucid extended its price promotion “Pure Summer Event” with special lease and purchase deals on 2023 Air models after seeing more interest in the brand.
Top comment by FC
150 miles of range is never going to be enough for anything but a city car. Factor in head winds, cold weather, higher speeds, etc. and you have a 100 mile range. That’s an hour and 20 minutes of driving. Nope.
If he can hit 6mi/kWh at 55mph and sustain 5mi/kWh at 80mph, a 60kWh pack would be sufficient for most and still offer a huge reduction in batteries required for every car and lower weight substantially compared to today’s longer range cars with 100kWh+ packs. Lucid needs to be very concerned about the state of America’s charging infrastructure because while most charging is done at home it only takes a few bad experiences when going on a road trip to sour people from EV ownership. Using Electrify America is a guarantee to have a bad experience more often than not.
Lucid also teased the (not so cheap) 1,200 hp Air Sapphire coming off the assembly line with a price tag of $249,000. The high-performance model will be available soon.
Electrek’s Take
Rawlinson made some solid points. As battery tech advances and automakers focus on efficiency, electric vehicles can be offered at lower prices.
He explained that if “we can get to a car with a 25-kilowatt-hour battery pack. If it does 6 miles per kilowatt hour – that’s the magic number, the holy grail – it will save the planet. We’re trying to get 5 with Lucid Air. Right now we’re at 4.74.”
Lucid is not out to dethrone the Tesla Model Y, Model 3, or Model S with lower prices; Rawlinson says there’s a market for great electric cars. “The more people who get behind the wheel in our cars will ditch their gasoline car and move to a Lucid Air because it’s better,” he explained.
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