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Lucid (Atieva) reveal is December 14th. I'll be there, let you know afterwards.
- Thread starter gene
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I like it. It's clearly not a volume model in it's current form, but it could be fairly easy to tone it down for a much brader market appeal.
They could offer two battery packs, 100 kWh and 130 kWh. Then replace the rear seats with a folding three seat bench seat. Then make a lot of the tech (AP, sound system, screens) optional. Then make the front drive unit optional. That should help significantly in bringing down the costs - maybe not quite to entry level Model S territory, but not necessarily far off.
Of course, there's also the time-aspect here. An entry level Model S could well have a 100 kWh pack in late 2018, costing no more than today. (Made possible by the 21-70s and the Gigafactory, and done to distinguish the Model S more from the Model 3.) And Tesla has the Supercharger network. In late 2018 it will no longer be great - it will be freaking awesome.
They could offer two battery packs, 100 kWh and 130 kWh. Then replace the rear seats with a folding three seat bench seat. Then make a lot of the tech (AP, sound system, screens) optional. Then make the front drive unit optional. That should help significantly in bringing down the costs - maybe not quite to entry level Model S territory, but not necessarily far off.
Of course, there's also the time-aspect here. An entry level Model S could well have a 100 kWh pack in late 2018, costing no more than today. (Made possible by the 21-70s and the Gigafactory, and done to distinguish the Model S more from the Model 3.) And Tesla has the Supercharger network. In late 2018 it will no longer be great - it will be freaking awesome.
voyager
Active Member
I was there as well and had a nice conversation with Cattledog. The car looks much better in person and has a wonderful feel to be in the interior. Front and rear seats are excellent. The Air doesn't have a hatchback but as a result is a much stiffer design than with a hatch. EVs only real noise is tire noise at higher speeds. Lucid is working on a complicated but effective active noise cancellation to negate tire noise. Imagine freeway speeds as quiet as your S at 25 mph.
BluestarE3
Active Member
The front-end looks really busy and the C-pillar looks really thick. Nevertheless, I wish them success because the more credible EV manufacturers there are, the more difficult it will be for the naysayers to claim EVs aren't viable. And by having another luxury EV in the marketplace, they can't say that electric cars are anemic, stripped down weirdmobiles only for the tree-hugging crowd.
Something I learned that made me feel much more enthusiastic about Lucid. The aforementioned Chinese investor is not the major investor. Venrock and Mitsui together have a greater investment in Lucid. Then there are several other large venture capital investors. Lucid is an American company and plans to manufacture in the USA. There is zero relation between Lucid and Faraday other than one of the investors is invested in both. Pretty much the same as if I owned both TSLA and GM stock.
Can't help it, but the back end keeps reminding me of the BMW "Bangle Butt". Interesting design element, but seems too obtrusive in comparison to the old BMWs. I keep feeling like the rear end will slide off with the side profile.
The Bangle Butt
Other than that it's quite a looker.
The Bangle Butt
Other than that it's quite a looker.
Actually, if you look at the front end straight on it looks really good to me.
BluestarE3
Active Member
My reaction to the front-end was based on this view:
But I agree that the straight-on view looks better.
That seems to be more like a $100,000 car than S.
And comment like below make me feel sad about tesla resale value. Probably correct, but what will a 60kwh tesla be worth in 2018 when it's new price buys a 100kwh with no wear. And definitely fully autonomous.
And comment like below make me feel sad about tesla resale value. Probably correct, but what will a 60kwh tesla be worth in 2018 when it's new price buys a 100kwh with no wear. And definitely fully autonomous.
From the angles shown looks like a nice visual design overall although a quirk here and there.
Ambitious plans but so far seems more credible than most in terms of likelihood of following through and getting something to market eventually (2018 seems optimistic).
Be interesting to see how this develops.
Ambitious plans but so far seems more credible than most in terms of likelihood of following through and getting something to market eventually (2018 seems optimistic).
Be interesting to see how this develops.
diamond.g
Active Member
Did you happen to take a test ride? The video that was posted made the motors sound much louder than I thought they would be. Maybe it was a lack of general sound deadening for the demo cars.
The prototype demo driver I was with made a point of saying the production vehicle would be much quieter because the car we were in had no sound insulation. The interior dashboard area was open and unfinished so engineers had complete access to modify the equipment and wiring.
That quote from Electrek is potentially misleading. The car that was "revealed" on stage is the same one shown in the "press pictures". It had a fully finished interior and we were able to climb inside and examine it up close. The actual test rides on the street were in engineering prototype cars with stripped interiors.
Here's a link to a video I shot last night of the Air unveiling. I apologize for the audio (and video), simply an iPhone video and my fingers were over the mic for part of it.
Peter Rawlinson is pretty amazing - clearly someone who is at the top of his game. It will be interesting to see if they can secure the investors necessary to go forward with the factory build and car production - I hope so.
The car will more or less overlap the Model S price segment - say about $70K at the low end and $140K at the high end. Small quibbles aside, I think it's a pretty compelling entry into the EV space. More technical people here will be better equipped to comment on whether their technologies represent an evolution or revolution from where the Model S stands. I didn't get a chance to test the natural alnguage setup they had, perhaps it is unique and a far step beyond. Things like the autonomous driving sensor suite are out of my league - are cameras, radar, lidar and sonar good redundancy or unnecessary complication?
In the end, it's a necessary next step for another Silicon Valley start-up to burst on the scene, traditional automakers are moving too slowly.
Enjoy!
https://teslamodels.wordpress.com/?p=947&preview=true
Peter Rawlinson is pretty amazing - clearly someone who is at the top of his game. It will be interesting to see if they can secure the investors necessary to go forward with the factory build and car production - I hope so.
The car will more or less overlap the Model S price segment - say about $70K at the low end and $140K at the high end. Small quibbles aside, I think it's a pretty compelling entry into the EV space. More technical people here will be better equipped to comment on whether their technologies represent an evolution or revolution from where the Model S stands. I didn't get a chance to test the natural alnguage setup they had, perhaps it is unique and a far step beyond. Things like the autonomous driving sensor suite are out of my league - are cameras, radar, lidar and sonar good redundancy or unnecessary complication?
In the end, it's a necessary next step for another Silicon Valley start-up to burst on the scene, traditional automakers are moving too slowly.
Enjoy!
https://teslamodels.wordpress.com/?p=947&preview=true
Same as what JeffN said. The cars used for the rides where prototypes. Practically stripped inside so not quiet.
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