Lucid Motors Air production car revealed - finally competition for Model S

[Gizmotoy]

It seems like an Executive car for the Chinese market to me, but time will tell.

Was thinking the same thing. Those rear seats tell the whole story, IMO. Those cutouts to allow them to recline substantially cut into the trunk. It's hard to tell scale, but with the chopped-off rear, it looks like the trunk is already quite small. I suspect they're aiming more at the executive sedan class. There's some overlap, I'm sure, but that's not a segment for which the Model S is well-suited (see the quickly-cancelled executive seating option).

 

[artsci]

What's that center tunnel all about -- very much an ICE car thing for the drive shaft? But why on an EV -- extra battery space perhaps?

Agree that the look of the thing is a bit graceless but then again there's a huge market for graceless design, as many brands demonstrate.

I do hope they succeed but the strategy to produce yet anoher high cost EV gives me doubt. This car is not a game changer. Why not jump ahead of Tesla and produce a mass market EV?

 

[kavyboy]

If this thing becomes real, Tesla is going to have to up its game.

I spoke those exact same words just a little while ago.

Tesla needs some competition. That's the only true way to see what people really want and are willing to pay for. If they're losing sales to due to their appalling, waypoint-less nav system, then they'll finally be motivated to update it.

 

[Gizmotoy]

What's that center tunnel all about -- very much an ICE car thing for the drive shaft? But why on an EV -- extra battery space perhaps?

Pretty common for executive seating to have that. You even see it when the base vehicle doesn't have any tunnel (see: Audi, etc.). It leaves space for storage and beverages without cutting into the armrests.

 

[Jeff N]

I wonder if the LUCID car can charge at these stations at faster rate than tesla's 110KW stations.

It is expected to utilize the new higher 350A specification for CCS but will still be a sub-500V design. As such it will likely have peak charging rates at least as fast as Tesla packs of the same capacity since Lucid/Samsung are saying their new cell design has been tweaked for high-rate charging.

I attended the event an wrote an article:

Lucid Takes On Tesla With New Luxury Sedan - HybridCars.com

 

[ecarfan]

I think there is a reasonable chance that the Lucid never actually gets produced but I hope it does and that it is a success. Competition is good and everyone will benefit.

But that design strikes me as a bit odd. Excessive space in the rear of the passenger compartment that surely must result in a fairly small trunk for a vehicle that size. However I assume there will be a more conventional 2nd row bench seat for 3 people.

All those interior images are CGI, not real photos. In another article online I saw exterior photos of a prototype car but don't know if it has an operational drivetrain or not.

So production in 2018 in a factory that has yet to be built, and we are just days away from 2017. Atieva has a lot of work ahead of them...

 

[Jeff N]

All those interior images are CGI, not real photos.

I'm not sure what interior images you are referring to but here's a real interior image I took myself yesterday at the introduction event:

This was the car on stage after the introduction.

As you guessed, there is also a conventional 3 person rear bench seat which was in another fully complete interior prototype vehicle off on the side.

In another article online I saw exterior photos of a prototype car but don't know if it has an operational drivetrain or not.

Yes, it does. They had three prototype cars that had stripped interiors aside from the seats so that engineers can access and replace parts when testing new designs.

I got a test ride in one of them. The showed off acceleration although the drivetrain was software limited to half power. The also showed off automated driving capability although it is still undergoing development.

 

[ecarfan]

Jeff, thanks for clarifying.

I wonder why the drivetrain was limited to half power? Though if that means "just" 500hp then I'm sure the acceleration was still impressive.

What is your opinion of the larger center display being mounted so low?

 

[somnambule]

To me, this seems more credible than Faraday Future. At least they have running prototypes of a practical car, and seemingly a fair bit of unique technology. Plus Lucid/Atieva is financed by multiple sources from at least three countries (Japan, China, and the US), which means they at least had to pass muster with multiple investors. Even with the herd mentality of VCs, that's got to take more work and substance than being one investor's pet project.

I hope they pull it off but they don't have the luxury of being the only show in town for desirable EVs. So they have even less margin for error than Tesla has/had.

 

[Peteybabes]

I'm not sure what interior images you are referring to but here's a real interior image I took myself yesterday at the introduction event:

more pictures please!!!

 

[Jeff N]

I wonder why the drivetrain was limited to half power?

The guy driving the car said they hadn't fully validated all parts of the drivetrain at higher power yet.

What is your opinion of the larger center display being mounted so low?

It's hard to say without a bunch of time actually driving the car. However, someone who is developing the display system said they are trying to keep driver eyeballs on the 3 upper driver displays because they feel those are less distracting. They are trying to design the UI so that "80%" of the time the information that is needed is on the right side display. They are trying to keep the center lower-mounted display only for configuration settings and display of detailed data that is mostly not accessed during driving.

 

[CHG-ON]

Very exciting to see them enter the fray. This is exactly what Elon was hoping for when he released his patents. Totally cool looking car.

 

[ev-now]

So this vehicle is about where Tesla was in 2011 - albeit they can build on the changed market. Interior looks nice, exterior not so much -though the roof is cool (well actually hopefully it's cool - could be very hot likely early Pano).

As with the promises from so many others - will believe it's real competition when I see them on the same roads as the S has been driving for over 4 years!

 

[zambono]

I'm tempted to put down a deposit - when oh when will I learn my lesson about not buying any first year production automobiles.

Clearly not yet

 

[zambono]

News and people need to stop claiming this first to 400 mile electric vehicle since the vehicle won't be on sale any time soon. By the time it is delivered if it ever is Tesla will probably have crested 400 miles and with a smaller battery. Tesla should only need 120Kwh, and not 130 Kwh

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

So this vehicle is about where Tesla was in 2011 - albeit they can build on the changed market. Interior looks nice, exterior not so much -though the roof is cool (well actually hopefully it's cool - could be very hot likely early Pano).

As with the promises from so many others - will believe it's real competition when I see them on the same roads as the S has been driving for over 4 years!

Nope. They are currently at where tesla is now. If the hp is true then the closest thing to it is a P100D.

2011 tesla didn't have even the model s. First model S was release in 2012.

The first model S:
It did not have AWD
It did not have autopilot
It did not have 100Kwh
It did not have > 90KW charging

I am not sure what your sources are but this car is definitely not 2011 tesla.

Now that being said having a production prototype and actual production vehicles is a very different thing. I hope they succeed so tesla has competition. Having no competition for so long has made tesla like those big auto maker screwing their customers.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

What's that center tunnel all about -- very much an ICE car thing for the drive shaft? But why on an EV -- extra battery space perhaps?

Agree that the look of the thing is a bit graceless but then again there's a huge market for graceless design, as many brands demonstrate.

I do hope they succeed but the strategy to produce yet anoher high cost EV gives me doubt. This car is not a game changer. Why not jump ahead of Tesla and produce a mass market EV?

Well if they produce mass market EV they have to compete with other manufactures. I am sure there will be many more cars in the long range department by the time this car comes out. Also there is margins. Like the same way tesla made the model S a luxury vehicles first before the model 3.

Finally I think there should be more manufacuture in the luxury department to force tesla to up their game. right now I think tesla has gotten conplacent.

 

[ev-now]

Now that being said having a production prototype and actual production vehicles is a very different thing. I hope they succeed so tesla has competition. Having no competition for so long has made tesla like those big auto maker screwing their customers.

THAT was my point - not the spec but the point in the life cycle.

 

[AB4EJ]

More competition in this space is a good thing; however, temper your enthusiasm, i.e.,

• Lucid will have the same kinds of challenges with ramping up production as any new car company (will take several years), and I would guess will have the same initial quality challenges as Tesla had
  
• Several other big companies (including Mercedes) will be entering the luxury EV market about the same time. Saturation of the high end market does more to hurt transport electrification than help it - companies will kill off models that don't sell (as they should)
  
• All the luxury EV models can reasonably be criticized that they are not really popularizing EVs, and are a rich person's plaything. More mass-market vehicles (like Model 3, and something even in the price class of the Toyota Camry) will be necessary to move the needle toward EVs globally.

 

[gene]

A couple of things to note. I was at the event. They are very secretive about charging plans and anyway, they say they have a few routes of which they are undecided. About Chinese backed? This needs to be laid to rest. The Chinese money in this company from what I have been told is a clear minority investment. Venrock (USA) and Mitsui (Japan) collectively are the mojor players by far.


More info here from the event: Lucid (Atieva) reveal is December 14th. I'll be there, let you know afterwards.