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Old 09-08-2020 | 08:25 PM
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Old 09-08-2020 | 10:56 PM
  #42  
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No question the Porsche has great loyalty. I had a 930 Turbo (pre-owned) for several years after college, but a growing family became more important.
Old 09-09-2020 | 12:02 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by Comfy
Looks like the doom of ICE age is nearer than thought.
Isn't the Lucid Air going to start as a $160k car with "plans" to release a version at around Model S pricing? Seems to me they managed to get $10% more efficiency (in mi/kWh) than the Tesla. Great, but that's hardly a game-changer for the mass market. To takeover ICE, entry level needs to be 400 miles range at $25k. And super fast charging stations need to be more than a novelty beyond California.

As for dynamic performance, I'm curious how much longer people will woo over 0-60 times for electric cars. In fact, at some point I'd expect that to become regulated. There are very few people I'd trust driving a car that can go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds or better.

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Old 09-09-2020 | 12:32 PM
  #44  
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Lucid has confirmed the price range of its Air electric sedan ahead of the full unveiling today.

It will cost between $80,000 and $169,000 before incentives, depending on the configuration.



The unveiling is set for 4 p.m. Pacific time and there’s a lot of information and the final production design that it is going to be unveiled at the event.

Considering Lucid has already released a lot of specs of the new electric sedan, the price is one of the most anticipated details to be released.

Bloomberg has apparently broke the embargo on the pricing, and since the information is now being spread, here is the actual pricing for the different options of the Lucid Air:
  • The Air, the starting point for the lineup, available in 2022 and starting below $80,000 ($72,500 after federal tax credit)
  • The well-equipped Air Touring model, available late 2021, from $95,000 ($87,500 after federal tax credit)
  • The fully equipped Air Grand Touring, available mid 2021, from $139,000 ($131,500 after federal tax credit)
  • The all-inclusive, limited-volume Air Dream Edition, available spring 2021, at $169,000 ($161,500 after federal tax credit)
A third-party test showed the EPA range of the luxury sedan at 517 miles on a single charge.

The company previously said that it was the Grand Touring version of the Air that achieved that range, which we now know starts at $139,000 before incentives.

But the Air Dream Edition is going to be the first to be delivered.

With its higher performance, this version is not expected to achieve the same range, but we are going to have to wait for the launch for the details.

The Lucid Air is drawing a lot of comparisons to the Tesla Model S, which has a price range of $75,000 to $111,500, fully equipped.
Old 09-09-2020 | 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by jmhumr
Isn't the Lucid Air going to start as a $160k car with "plans" to release a version at around Model S pricing? Seems to me they managed to get $10% more efficiency (in mi/kWh) than the Tesla. Great, but that's hardly a game-changer for the mass market. To takeover ICE, entry level needs to be 400 miles range at $25k. And super fast charging stations need to be more than a novelty beyond California.

As for dynamic performance, I'm curious how much longer people will woo over 0-60 times for electric cars. In fact, at some point I'd expect that to become regulated. There are very few people I'd trust driving a car that can go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds or better.
Tesla's have a chill mode that's much slower
Old 09-09-2020 | 04:58 PM
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Take your pick

Originally Posted by jmhumr
Isn't the Lucid Air going to start as a $160k car with "plans" to release a version at around Model S pricing? Seems to me they managed to get $10% more efficiency (in mi/kWh) than the Tesla. Great, but that's hardly a game-changer for the mass market. To takeover ICE, entry level needs to be 400 miles range at $25k. And super fast charging stations need to be more than a novelty beyond California.

As for dynamic performance, I'm curious how much longer people will woo over 0-60 times for electric cars. In fact, at some point I'd expect that to become regulated. There are very few people I'd trust driving a car that can go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds or better.
Agreed: A leg spasm, wrong pedal selection, a hiccup, a rear bump, hot coffee in lap or an overreaction to an outside influence of some kind is all that it would take.
Old 09-09-2020 | 06:04 PM
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So the Air Touring is the same as the current Tesla Model S but $20k more and a year later

https://electrek.co/2020/09/09/lucid...gn-full-specs/

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Old 09-09-2020 | 06:05 PM
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Old 09-09-2020 | 07:17 PM
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Looks really good. If they can execute on all of their plans and make a great vehicle than major ICE OEMs like Mercedes, and BMW are fucked. These guys could dominate the high end market where those OEMs make the most profit. They have no legacy cash cow they have to worry about preserving short term, no dead weight, it looks like they got all the right elements from the Tesla playbook and are targeting are higher price bracket with little overlap in the Tesla price range, at least for now.

They even showed off home battery and utility scale battery storage products a la Tesla Powerwall and Megapack.
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Old 09-09-2020 | 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA
Looks really good. If they can execute on all of their plans and make a great vehicle than major ICE OEMs like Mercedes, and BMW are fucked. These guys could dominate the high end market where those OEMs make the most profit. They have no legacy cash cow they have to worry about preserving short term, no dead weight, it looks like they got all the right elements from the Tesla playbook and are targeting are higher price bracket with little overlap in the Tesla price range, at least for now.

They even showed off home battery and utility scale battery storage products a la Tesla Powerwall and Megapack.
Absolutely,....I'm actually thrilled with the car itself. It offers everything that a Model S lacks. This is the true rival to Mercedes S class or even EQS and will eat their lunch for sure. Mercedes was hoping their yet to be unveiled EQS will be the king of EVs. I'm not so sure anymore. Anyone else thinks the Cadillac EVs will be little more delayed...
Old 09-09-2020 | 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by jmhumr
Isn't the Lucid Air going to start as a $160k car with "plans" to release a version at around Model S pricing? Seems to me they managed to get $10% more efficiency (in mi/kWh) than the Tesla. Great, but that's hardly a game-changer for the mass market. To takeover ICE, entry level needs to be 400 miles range at $25k. And super fast charging stations need to be more than a novelty beyond California.

As for dynamic performance, I'm curious how much longer people will woo over 0-60 times for electric cars. In fact, at some point I'd expect that to become regulated. There are very few people I'd trust driving a car that can go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds or better.
As stated before, the huge profits that German manufacturers make, come from their higher priced and performance versions, "M- badged / AMG" etc. These high performing EVs from Tesla and Lucid will eat that market, hitting the Germans below their belt line, so essentially it'll be a game changer for them. If they do not up their game soon and significantly and show the world that they are the technology leaders in the world, they'll be left scrambling for the leftovers. If Lucid becomes successful, following the Tesla strategy, I don't see a reason why they couldn't make the product meeting the requirements of mass market in a few years time. Tesla Model 3 (and now Y) are already sucking up the market in the price range of mass market premium cars - (the base of BMWs and MBs). By next year they'll all feel the heat.

Totally agree with the second part of comment about higher performance cars in the hands of dumbos.
Old 09-09-2020 | 09:52 PM
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA


So the Air Touring is the same as the current Tesla Model S but $20k more and a year later

https://electrek.co/2020/09/09/lucid...gn-full-specs/
The Cybertruck which is scheduled to come out next year will have a 500mi range, 0-60 in 2.9s, tow 14000 lbs, and cost $70k. So 500mi range for $140000, isn’t that impressive. Battery is gonna be nuts, we’re gonna find out how they’re gonna pull that off


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Old 09-09-2020 | 10:11 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Comfy
As stated before, the huge profits that German manufacturers make, come from their higher priced and performance versions, "M- badged / AMG" etc. These high performing EVs from Tesla and Lucid will eat that market, hitting the Germans below their belt line, so essentially it'll be a game changer for them. If they do not up their game soon and significantly and show the world that they are the technology leaders in the world, they'll be left scrambling for the leftovers. If Lucid becomes successful, following the Tesla strategy, I don't see a reason why they couldn't make the product meeting the requirements of mass market in a few years time. Tesla Model 3 (and now Y) are already sucking up the market in the price range of mass market premium cars - (the base of BMWs and MBs). By next year they'll all feel the heat.
I think they're already feeling the heat, based on just about every car manufacturer raising their hand to say they're in the electrification game the past two years. But what kind of scale and timeline are you predicting here? Do you think RVs will represent some percentage of new car sales, or some percentage of total cars on the road? I'll agree that there's a pretty obvious trend of most new models being EV or PHEVs by 2025. But battery production is a serious chokepoint and industry experts don't expect EVs to represent the majority of global new car sales until 2040. Who knows how much slower the US will be.
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Old 09-09-2020 | 10:31 PM
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I'm much more optimistic though. Even though I'm not an expert, I'm counting on BEV being the majority in 5 years from now...
Old 09-09-2020 | 11:44 PM
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The biggest limiting factory to that is mining/recycling enough of the necessary ingredients to produce the batteries and having enough factories to make them. While the demand is there I think supply will lag behind but hopefully really start to pick up by the end of the decade.

2018-2019 EVs seemed like a cute little market segment that most OEMs weren’t focusing much on but as the industry watched TSLA skyrocket and governments started enforcing CO2 regulations the rest of the auto industry is finally taking it seriously and they all want a piece of the action. let’s hope the strategy of waiting until the last minute until you’re forced by governments and superior competition to finally give a shit works out for them.
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Old 09-10-2020 | 09:28 AM
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https://www.netcarshow.com/lucid/2021-air/


Lucid Motors, which seeks to set new standards for sustainable transportation with its advanced luxury EVs, unveiled production details for the highly anticipated Lucid Air in a global web broadcast from its Silicon Valley headquarters. Having already set new industry benchmarks in the EV and luxury segments in key areas related to performance, efficiency, and design, deliveries of this new pure-electric luxury sedan will start in spring of 2021.

"Lucid Motors is driven to make the electric car better, and by doing so, help move the entire industry forward towards accelerated adoption of sustainable mobility. The goal of this relentless approach to developing the world's most advanced electric vehicle is to benefit all mankind with sustainable, zero emission transportation, and to also attract new customers to the world of EVs," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors. "With the Lucid Air, we have created a halo car for the entire industry, one which shows the advancements that are possible by pushing the boundaries of EV technology and performance to new levels."


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Old 09-10-2020 | 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA
The Cybertruck which is scheduled to come out next year will have a 500mi range, 0-60 in 2.9s, tow 14000 lbs, and cost $70k. So 500mi range for $140000, isn’t that impressive. Battery is gonna be nuts, we’re gonna find out how they’re gonna pull that off

It will? Where's the configurator?
Old 09-10-2020 | 11:22 AM
  #58  
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On their website

https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck/design#battery
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Old 09-10-2020 | 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by 00TL-P3.2
https://www.netcarshow.com/lucid/2021-air/







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simply awesome. Hope they make it through their “production hell”.
Old 09-10-2020 | 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA
Awesome. So you're telling me that this price is final?
Old 09-10-2020 | 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA
The Cybertruck which is scheduled to come out next year will have a 500mi range, 0-60 in 2.9s, tow 14000 lbs, and cost $70k. So 500mi range for $140000, isn’t that impressive. Battery is gonna be nuts, we’re gonna find out how they’re gonna pull that off

But that is “dumb range” as Rawlinson would put it.
Doesn’t matter much to me though .
Old 09-10-2020 | 11:38 AM
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Originally Posted by SamDoe1
It will? Where's the configurator?
Dude, you need to chill. Tesla is not going to build a $2 billion factory with no product. Cybertruck and semi are the main intended products. More updates posted in relevant thread, will discuss there. It’ll be stupid to have a factory ready but product not ready, and Tesla /Elon aren’t stupid, not by any stretch of imagination.
Old 09-18-2020 | 07:25 AM
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Lucid air beats Tesla’s record on racetrack

Apparently Lucid air broke the record set by Models S plaid prototype easily. Way to go lucid. More to come.
https://electrek.co/2020/09/18/lucid...-test-vehicle/
Old 10-14-2020 | 10:49 AM
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Lucid Air cheaper model unveiled

Lucid announces their much awaited mass market version of Air costing $69k after tax credits. This will be the most compelling competitor to the Model S with nearly equivalent specs and a potentially better and more refined interior.
The only caveat is that it won’t be available till 2022 which is a bummer. Hope they will avoid the production hell.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/14/...dan-base-price
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Old 10-29-2020 | 12:50 AM
  #65  
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Good thing the Frunk is so big, the trunk looks like it’ll be a pain in the ass to use, seems like the sacrificed the trunk for better aerodynamics

Old 10-29-2020 | 10:42 AM
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They said in the video that the trunk isn't opened all the way. If it does open further, it actually looks like a pretty easy trunk to use. The sill is low and the opening is incredibly wide.

Edit - here it is fully open:



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Old 10-29-2020 | 11:02 AM
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^ That is actually a really good design for a trunk. Kudos to them for innovating something like that.
Old 10-29-2020 | 12:48 PM
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When you don't have things like exhaust & fuel tanks in the way, I suppose it's a lot easier to lower/widen the trunk opening.
Old 10-29-2020 | 03:06 PM
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I wonder what a Lucid model 3 competitor would look like.
Old 11-10-2020 | 08:58 PM
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They just opened a store at a mall near me (where there is also a Tesla) and we had some time to kill before an apple appt so we checked them. Expensive as fuck. But they are very nice looking with nice appointments. I like the interior a lot. The rear trunk/hatch is interesting.

They are releasing the 1080hp version first, they said in Feb...to the tune of $160k....the $70k will come later...and there will be a 1200hp version.
Old 02-15-2021 | 06:33 PM
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The 2022 Lucid Air was unveiled in production-spec during a global web broadcast from its Silicon Valley headquarters in late 2020, and it’s only the first of many, with an electric SUV to join it in the following months.

While Lucid has distanced itself from sounding like it plans to dethrone Tesla Motors on numerous occasions, the Air looks like it will be doing exactly that.

The state-of-the-art luxury EV will be available in three versions at the start of production, which is set to begin in spring of 2021, with a fourth entry-level version to join the lineup from 2022.

“Lucid Motors is driven to make the electric car better, and by doing so, help move the entire industry forward towards accelerated adoption of sustainable mobility. The goal of this relentless approach to developing the world’s most advanced electric vehicle is to benefit all mankind with sustainable, zero emission transportation, and to also attract new customers to the world of EVs,” said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors. “With the Lucid Air, we have created a halo car for the entire industry, one which shows the advancements that are possible by pushing the boundaries of EV technology and performance to new levels.”


With up to 1,080 horsepower available from a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive architecture, the Lucid Air in its most potent form can not only out-accelerate any Porsche Taycan, but also most production supercars.

The quarter-mile time of 9.9 seconds can be apparently achieved on a repeatable basis, while an available extended-range version has an estimated EPA range of no less than 517 miles (832 km) on a single charge.

According to Lucid, the Air will also be the fastest charging EV ever, having the capacity to charge at rates of up to 20 miles per minute when using a DC Fast Charging network. That would translate into about 300 miles (483 km) of range after just 20 minutes of charging.


The model with the extended-range battery pack can store 113 kWh of juice and is called the Lucid Air Grand Touring. Its base price is set at $139,000 (or $131,500 minus the Federal Tax Credit).

With about 800 horsepower on tap, it can go from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 3 seconds flat and do the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds, onward to a top speed of 168 mph (270 kph).

The mid-range trim level is called Air Touring and starts from $95,000 ($87,500 minus Federal Tax Credit). With ‘only’ 620 horsepower, it can go from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 3.2seconds flat has a top speed of 155 mph (250 kph). It does the quarter mile in 11.3 seconds and it can go 408 miles (657 km) on a single charge.


The quickest and most powerful version will be available as a limited series model called Air Dream Edition and start at a hefty $169,000 ($161,500 minus FTC). With the full 1,080 horsepower developed by the dual-motor powertrain it can go from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 2.5 seconds and do the quarter mile in 9.9 seconds. Its top speed is set at 168 mph (270 kph), just like the Air Grand Touring.

The Air Dream Edition’s range depends on the choice of wheels, with the 19-inch giving it at 503 miles (809 km) range, while the 21-inch AeroDream wheels restrict it to 465 miles (748 km).

From 2022, the lineup will also comprise a base Air sedan, with the starting price set at below $80,000 ($72,500 minus FTC), but its technical specifications and range are still to be announced. Lucid's first electric SUV is also coming in 2023, currently named Project Gravity, but we'll probably learn more about it in the upcoming months.
The 2022 Lucid Air EV Sedan Is Like a Next-Level Tesla - autoevolution
Old 02-16-2021 | 01:34 AM
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Old 02-16-2021 | 07:52 PM
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Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors Inc is getting close to a deal to go public at a roughly $12-billion valuation after veteran dealmaker Michael Klein's blank-check acquisition firm launched a financing effort to back the transaction, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The merger between Lucid and Klein's Churchill Capital IV Corp would be the biggest in a string of deals by electric vehicle makers such as Nikola Corp and Fisker Inc that have gone public by combining with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Churchill Capital IV has initiated talks with investors to raise more than $1 billion by selling shares in a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction for the deal with Lucid, the sources said. The size of the PIPE could reach $1.5 billion or more based on investor demand, one added.

These funds would be in addition to the $2 billion Churchill Capital IV raised in an initial public offering (IPO) in July on the New York Stock Exchange. Lucid and Klein agreed on the key terms of the deal, according to the sources.

If the PIPE fundraising concludes successfully, a deal could be announced as early as this month, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential details. Churchill Capital IV declined to comment. Lucid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Churchill Capital IV's stock spiked on the news and was trading up around 30% at $52.20.

Lucid, founded in 2007 as Atieva Inc by former Tesla executive Bernard Tse and entrepreneur Sam Weng, makes luxury electric vehicles. It was funded initially by Chinese and Silicon Valley venture investors, with additional funding from backers like state-owned Chinese auto maker BAIC Motor and Chinese technology company LeEco.

To help fund construction of a U.S. assembly plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, Lucid was boosted by a $1 billion investment in 2018 by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Churchill Capital IV's share price has surged more than 300% since Bloomberg News reported in January that it was in talks to merge with Lucid.

SPACs likes Churchill IV are shell companies that raise money in an IPO to merge with a privately held company that becomes publicly traded as a result.

Merging with a SPAC has emerged as a popular IPO alternative for companies seeking to go public with less regulatory scrutiny and more certainty over the valuation that will be attained and funds that will be raised.

Investors keen on SPACs are on the hunt for electric vehicle startups, hoping to catch the next Tesla Inc. While some deals such as Fisker have delivered handsomely for SPAC investors, other such as Nikola have given up their short-term gains.

Klein has raised a string of SPACs which have done deals for companies including healthcare-services company MultiPlan Corp and analytics firm Clarivate Plc.
Lucid Motors closer to going public through SPAC deal | Autoblog
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Old 02-22-2021 | 07:47 PM
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Lucid Motors on Monday agreed to go public by merging with Churchill Capital IV Corp, a blank-check firm backed by Wall Street dealmaker and former Citigroup banker Michael Klein, in a deal that valued the combined company at $11.75 billion.

The deal with Churchill Capital IV Corp includes a private investment of $2.5 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, funds managed by BlackRock and others. It is expected to provide Lucid with $4.6 billion in proceeds.

The California-based EV maker had said in August that it aims to start selling its first luxury model, Lucid Air, early this year. The electric sedan would be the first to achieve a 500-mile driving range, the company said. (https://reut.rs/3nBdh0I)

Lucid Air has a starting price of $77,400. But it would come down to $69,900 as customers may be eligible for a federal tax credit of $7,500.

After the luxury electric sedan was priced, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk had in October last year announced a cut in the price of Model S Sedan. He tweeted, "The gauntlet has been thrown down!"

It was last year that other EV makers such as Nikola Corp and Fisker Inc went public through mergers with blank-check firms. Los Angeles-based EV firm Faraday Future Inc also announced a deal with a blank-check company to go public earlier this year.

Founded in 2007 by former Tesla Inc executive Bernard Tse and entrepreneur Sam Weng as Atieva Inc, Lucid had received initial funding from Chinese technology company LeEco, which is controlled by Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting.

Churchill capital Corp IV, the fourth special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by former Citigroup Inc banker Michael Klein, went public in a $1.8 billion initial public offering (IPO) in July last year.

SPACs are shell companies which raise money through an IPO to take another company public within two years.

Such mergers have become a popular alternatives for companies looking to go public, with over 200 SPAC deals collectively raising more than $70 billion in equity last year.
Lucid Motors agrees to go public in merger with blank-check firm | Autoblog
Old 02-25-2021 | 03:49 PM
  #75  
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Nice of them to wait a few days after going public to make this announcement. Have all the private share holders been able to sell before this announcement?

Last edited by #1 STUNNA; 02-25-2021 at 03:52 PM.
Old 02-26-2021 | 11:49 PM
  #76  
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Originally Posted by #1 STUNNA
https://twitter.com/ElectrekCo/statu...44384434171911
https://twitter.com/EdLudlow/status/1364007658563330052



Nice of them to wait a few days after going public to make this announcement. Have all the private share holders been able to sell before this announcement?
Yeah. I guess lucid got greedy towards the end and those investors who bought at $60 got the short end of the stick. I was lucky to get out partially before the crash. It might take a while for the shares to recover, or may be formally unveiling their Gravity SUV can help some too.
Old 03-20-2021 | 02:02 AM
  #77  
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Lucid Motors has had a wild ride. The California-based electric car company, headed by the former chief engineer of the Tesla Model S, announced last month that it would join with Churchill Capital IV, a SPAC venture, in a reverse-merger deal that sparked a near-frenzy by speculators, pushing shares up 500 percent and implying a huge and unjustifiable valuation for Lucid. The actual evaluation of $24 billion—still quite high—was seen as a disappointment by some investors, causing a big stock slump. And all this for a company that hasn’t actually produced any cars.

Some analysts compared Lucid (founded in 2007 as Atieva) unfavorably to Nio, the stylish Chinese electric automaker that delivered 43,728 vehicles in 2020. “Lucid is already valued at 28 percent of Nio, an established EV producer, even though it has yet to sell a vehicle or record a dollar of revenue,” sneered TheDeepDive.ca.

That’s fair enough—a lot of EV startups stumbled before they reached the starting gate: Detroit Electric, Dyson, Coda, Wheego, Think Global. And Nio, which has also seen dramatic stock fluctuations, has struggled through recalls and layoffs. Things looked bad in 2019, and the company had a net loss of $812.9 million in 2020, though a large cash infusion from state sources is one reason things are looking a lot rosier now.

The thing about Lucid, though, is that it not only makes some extraordinary claims about the performance of its upcoming Air model, it backs the boasts up with solid results and engineering. The groundwork has been done, though the fine points of that aren’t necessarily going to be on the radar of stock analysts. There’s value there, though definitely not the value implied by the wildest speculators.

“I do think Lucid is a solid company,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for e-mobility at Detroit-based Guidehouse Insights. “They generally have a realistic roadmap for the products they want to produce and their growth plan. As near as I can determine they haven’t overspent on building too much factory or wasted money on unneeded automation as another EV maker [Tesla] did. I think the Lucid Air and the Gravity [an SUV for 2023] will be appealing premium vehicles. In fact, I think they will be more appealing to luxury customers than the Model S.”
Lucid’s CEO and chief technology officer, Peter Rawlinson, has a good reputation, and the Model S speaks for itself. “He’s a smart engineer who listens to his people and doesn’t insist on micromanaging everything,” Abuelsamid said.

Rawlinson feels ill-used by the markets. He pointed to the once-hot rivalry that had existed between Tesla and Fisker Automotive, which briefly fielded the Karma plug-in hybrid. “The difference is that at Tesla, we had a terrific, world-class engineering team, most of whom I personally recruited,” Rawlinson told Autoweek. “We were the real deal, vertically integrated, with in-house technology—our own motors, battery pack, transmission, inverter, charger. But the casual observer couldn’t discern the difference between us and Fisker.”

Now, a decade later, “I feel a sense of déjà vu,” Rawlinson said. “There’s a phalanx of new companies, many with great, noble ideas, but I don’t see the tech. At Lucid, we have the engineering in place, much of it via people I recruited at Tesla and brought over to our company. We are building the brand.”


“We were the real deal … but the casual observer couldn’t discern the difference between us and Fisker.”
Lucid’s claim to “having the tech” is made stronger by the battery modules its Atieva technology division developed for the entire 24-car Formula E electric racing grid. The current packs enable the cars to complete the full race without recharging, greatly enhancing the spectator experience. The packs, which have a strong reliability record, will continue to power Formula E through season eight.

Lucid, with two factories in Arizona, has 2,000 employees now, but Rawlinson predicted it could have 4,000 next year. He said that adding the Gravity SUV would expand Lucid production from 34,000 currently to 90,000 vehicles annually.

Rawlinson said when he first presented the Model S body shell at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, “they said the claims were outrageous—that what we were doing was a fraud.” And, indeed, Lucid’s claims for the Air do look almost preposterous.



The Air, like the Tesla Model S, has a lot of in-house technology. It’s predicted to have a range of up to 517 miles, and with as much as 1,080 hp, a 0-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds. There are, on some models, two motors for all-wheel drive. Lucid claims the car can deliver 4.5 miles per kilowatt-hour and is 17 percent more efficient than Tesla. It has an insane drag co-efficient of 0.21, which Rawlinson says is conservative. At California’s Sonoma Raceway last year, the Air achieved a 9.912-second quarter-mile at 144.40 mph.

Lucid’s more-than-500-mile range estimates were reinforced by thousands of miles of highway testing, and evaluation at FEV North America, a testing facility for the powertrain industry, in Auburn Hills, Michigan. EPA verification is to come, but the company says it used the federal agency’s testing protocols.
And then there’s the car’s utility. The rear seat is huge, with comfortable seating for three and outstanding legroom. An upcoming executive rear seating package will offer back seats with up to 45 degrees of recline. There’s an available glass canopy over the cabin and a front cockpit design that incorporates a floating 34-inch curved instrument panel, with a retractable center display. There’s a bilevel trunk and a “frunk,” or front trunk.

It’s fair to say that Lucid is obsessed with Tesla, but it’s not a bad role model. Many of the ideas on the Air were first tried on Teslas, but other companies have also copied the over-the-air updates and big central screens.
Rawlinson is not lacking in confidence. He said he recently drove a Ferrari Roma and measured it against his own product. “I think the Lucid Air was faster,” he said, adding that he’s looking forward to going up against the forthcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS. The Air’s starting price is $77,400, though American buyers should be able to reduce that to $69,900 with the federal $7,500 tax credit. That money buys the 480-hp version of the car, with one motor and 408 miles of range. The Touring model is $87,500 and offers 620 hp. The $169,000 Dream has 503 miles and 1,080 hp.

Of course, journalists haven’t really been able to wring out the Air yet. It could be less than the sum of its parts. Teslas are, above all else, thrilling to drive. Delivery of the first Airs has been delayed from this spring to sometime in the second half of 2021. Spokesman Andrew Hussey said the company will offer “limited journalist drives of preproduction cars in the May/June timeframe,” followed by a global press drive event just before the start of production.
The Lucid Air’s pricing starts at $69,900, when the federal tax credit is factored in. Getting back to Lucid’s funding, Rawlinson says it’s a plus that more than $1 billion in initial funding came from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. “It’s been a great partnership, and we’re helping them transition from an oil-based economy,” Rawlinson said. As to Lucid’s valuation, he said that Tesla stock is hugely valuable not because of the cars produced to date (still tiny compared to many mainstream automakers) but “because of what the company is capable of doing.”

Lucid, too, is all about the potential. “There’s been too much focus on the SPAC,” he said. “We’re a tech play, and there are only two tech plays—Lucid and Tesla.”

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the legacy automakers can create their own “tech plays.” UBS recently tore down the Volkswagen ID.3 and found it “the most credible EV effort by any legacy auto company so far.” And that disclosure sent VW stock up.
Lucid Motors Shoots down the Doubters (autoweek.com)
Old 03-20-2021 | 09:36 PM
  #78  
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The only negative I see about Lucid is that most of the stock is owned by Saudi ruling family (okay... public sovereign fund, to be politically correct). Now they are pulling the strings to bring production facility to Saudi Arabia which is the worst decision they could make at this time.
This huge Saudi influence could be the most challenging aspect of Lucid as those masters can crush the stock value or buy them out completely by creating unfavorable situations (like they are proposing now). None of these are desirable at this point. Just my two cents.
Old 03-20-2021 | 09:57 PM
  #79  
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A few years ago, we spoke with the folks at Lucid Motors — specifically CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson and Senior Vice President of Design Derek Jenkins — as they worked to develop the Air electric luxury sedan and break ground on their Arizona factory. Since then, much has happened: Lucid has unveiled the production version of the Air, with an industry-beating 517 miles of projected driving range. Lucid is on the verge of going public through a SPAC deal. It has also weathered an ongoing pandemic and, in the midst of it, teased its next electric vehicle, the Gravity SUV. With so much underway, we had the opportunity to chat again with Derek Jenkins to talk about Lucid's EVs and what’s happening now and in the future at the compay.

On the coronavirus pandemic

"I would say we've done pretty well as an organization. I'm pretty proud of how the company's reacted and to be prepared, bring up the precautions as well as working methodology. But inevitably there was an impact because there's change in workflow and, of course. there has been impact to our supply chain which has had delayed impact.

"On the design side, personally, I feel the impact is quite dramatic just because for me, designing and collaborating in person, being in the studio and being able to use the whole array of tools that we have at our disposal, I've really wished my team to be present in the office as much as possible. Truth be told that I was back in the office regularly in a May, June timeframe last year. I have been since, and then I ran a rotating skeleton crew to keep a creative vibe and creative growth going because, in those first months, I could already feel a bit of a detachment with the design team. And so it was important to get back in, and starting in that timeframe, we were already working heavily on Gravity SUV program and we're pushing like crazy on it as we speak."

On Project Gravity’s design

"Personally, as far as a personal vehicle, I actually probably lean more towards the Gravity than even the Air, believe it or not, in terms of my personal life. But the approach is very similar to Air. The Air is all about space optimization and utilizing the space to the best ability with the package. And the Gravity would be the same way. We really are optimizing that project around, first, the footprint of the car. So trying to keep the car at or around four, five meters in length and yet having class-above interior space, which is very much the approach we took with Air because we believe that it will be the long-term approach with electrification to optimize interior space with respect to exterior size.

"I think in terms of the type of crossover SUV, it'll definitely lean more towards an urban/suburban on-road type of product. It will have a reasonable degree of off-road ability, but it's not a full blown off-roader. And the reason for that is simple. We still need to stick to our efficiency principles — great aerodynamics and be able to optimize range — because range and efficiency are still one of our key metrics here at Lucid. And we believe strongly that that is the fundamental metric of what makes a great EV, is range and efficiency. We need to make sure that we take that same approach we took with Air, we take with Gravity. That will definitely be part of it.

"Beyond that, we showed the teaser model at our 9/9 launch event, and there's images of that obviously out there. That was an early proportion study that we did. I would say there are things that will live onward, but [as] the project evolves, it'll continue to tweak, and there will be definite new differences from what you see in those images. Mostly refinements, front and rear end, a few things I can't get into. I would say that that is a directional concept that we teased, and that what will come will have some similarities, but there will be some differences as well. Sorry I'm being vague."





On Gravity’s positioning

"We've been working really hard to figure out and determine the positioning for Gravity because — and this is something that's near and dear to my heart — it's always felt like if you chart the evolution of the SUV it's really fascinating. Obviously in the '80s and early '90s, things were more truck- and off-road-based. And then throughout the '90s we evolved into more on-road, car-based types of things.

"And now the segmentation of the SUV crossover is so splintered into all these little different mutations of the concept, which is obviously good for the consumer, right? Because they have a lot of different choices. But for us it's really about what is the optimal architecture, optimal formula for the SUV crossover. I really feel like with the internal combustion choices, especially in the luxury segmentation, there's still a lot of compromise. You either get something that's really sporty and fast and dynamic but has no space or utility, or you get something with a lot of space but it's lumbering and large and hard to get around town and park. And I see Gravity as being the ultimate mix of performance, awesome range and space and comfort and utility. And I don't know a single vehicle that does all of those great, and so I'm excited about that."

On efficiency

"I'll say this, I feel the current state of EV awareness, it's so much focus is, 'It's all about the battery or it's all about the charging.' And it's really a million tiny things that ultimately stock up to make an EV able to be energy-efficient and range-exceptional. And even with Air, even as we speak, we're eking out every little advantage we can get from software or some other mechanical tweak to get that little bit further. And I think that you can expect an exceptional level of range. Where it is exactly? I think we still need to determine that. Obviously we have our estimations and we have our goals.

"And the big pressure for me is, of course, aerodynamics. Which is, not going to lie, that the Air is easy by comparison to doing an SUV. Because with the Air we have the advantage of the car [being] relatively low. We made it narrower than other cars in the segment. And then the rest of it was just keeping the car super clean, the elimination of traditional grille and features like that on the front of the car and just treating it like an aircraft, really.

"With an SUV, I want it to sit a little more proud. I want it to be a little more muscular looking and a little bit faster in some areas, boxier other areas. And all of those things have an aerodynamic tradeoff. It becomes the art of balancing the, let's say, the SUV aesthetic presence with aerodynamic efficiency. To me that is the ultimate artistic challenge. I think we'll find that balance, and you can expect range that, I wouldn't say is directly on par with Air, but proportionately given the nature of the product."

On the Gravity name

"This is a really fascinating story because all the Lucid naming strategy is built around these elements and really elemental type of naming. We have built up a whole range. We have names stashed away. And Gravity came from one of our employees' daughters. She's like 10, 11 years old, and she said, 'Dad, wouldn't it be great if the SUV was called Gravity?' He came to me with that, and it was one of those things I'm like, 'That's awesome. That's perfect.'

"The reason it's perfect is because I like names that feel huge, that feel big or they're boundless. Air is just boundless yet so simple. And Gravity was on the other end of the spectrum, because when I think of an SUV, I'm not suggesting that it's super, super heavy, but I did suggest that it's got a mass to it and a presence and it's substantial. And Gravity also suggests something of importance. And it just felt right to me, and it felt like a worthy followup to Air, quite honestly. And so I give our employees' daughter full credit.

"It's funny because early on when we renamed the company from Atieva — which was our original company's name — to Lucid, that was this big, long process. And then once we established that we hadn't named the car yet, and we have a million names, and the easy way out is just give a numerical abbreviation nomenclature. That's like phoning it in, right?

"And I just felt like, 'Damn it, we're better than that. It deserves a name that reflects its character.' The problem there is all good names are trademarked, and it becomes a really difficult process. We had to get our heads outside of the predictable automotive-sounding terms, and we've been fortunate because that's yielded a lot of cool names. I think we have names for our next three or four products already planned."

On what’s next

"We have a 10-year roadmap, and we've talked about it on a high level here and there. There's the obvious thing, there will be ongoing improvements and derivatives of Air. And those will include things like we're continuing to move forward on our rear seat Executive Package. We see that as very important for the Chinese and Asian markets because they have more of that chauffeur type of consumer. That will include things like our rear seating entertainment package and so on. We have an ongoing accessory program that we're building up for Air.

"And then of course we have Gravity. Gravity will have multiple variants. The Gravity is built on the Air architecture, but it's an evolution of the architecture that's more suitable towards the SUV. And naturally that opens up opportunities for perhaps not just one product on that evolution of that platform. I think there's an opportunity there that they're still exploring. And then beyond that, the next step is our second fully new platform, which will most likely be in the direction of a smaller product or a smaller family of products moving slightly downmarket."

On the Atieva Edna, and the possibility of a Lucid van

"I'm a massive fan of vans. I have a Volkswagen Eurovan, actually. In fact, I've owned three, as well as the Vanagon. I'm a hardcore van fan, as well. I follow VanLife and Sprinters and all of that very closely. That one is one that, in my personal view, I would like that very much. In the view of Lucid as a brand and the priority as a product change, it's hard for me to see that as being something we would pursue in our immediate strategy, to be honest. But never say never."

On the possibility of commercial vehicles

"I think that with the immediate future, our focus is starting as a luxury brand, starting with a world-class luxury sport sedan and a world-class luxury sport SUV crossover. We want to establish that luxury position, and then naturally the next step is to bring in a more affordable set of products and move downmarket. Not all the way downmarket but more of, let's say, a mid-level premium position.

"In terms of commercial applications and this type of platform, I think we're very keen, and obviously we see a lot of activity in that area. I think our immediate strategy there is to look at how we can put our technologies to work and find partners to work in those areas. We look at our battery tech, our motoring further tech, our charging technologies. These are all ideally suited for both last mile or urban commercial applications. We're open to those types of partnerships."

On the SPAC merger

"I'm probably not the best person to get any real detail there, I would defer to Peter [Rawlinson] on that. But obviously it's been stated that they have the idea [that the] merger is meant to take place in the second half of the year. And we're obviously looking forward to it, that that capital raise will have a dramatic impact for us to accelerate our efforts. We're thrilled about our partners, and so far it's been an amazing boost for the company."
A chat with Derek Jenkins, Lucid Motors Senior V.P. of Design | Autoblog
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Comfy (03-20-2021)
Old 05-11-2021 | 10:00 PM
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