Lucid CEO teases mid-size in development

[hydbob]

Lucid CEO teases a mid-size Tesla Model 3, Model Y competitor in development

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of Phase 2 at its AMP-1 production facility in Arizona, Lucid Motors CEO...

electrek.co

 

[NoseyReporter]

Exciting! Thanks Hydbob!

Those rear haunches...

Every time I hand washed my Cayman, I felt deviant when I got to the rear haunches.

 

[Lucken]

A possible replacement for my BMW i4.

 

[xponents]

Exciting! Thanks Hydbob!

View attachment 17882

View attachment 17881
Those rear haunches...

Every time I hand washed my Cayman, I felt deviant when I got to the rear haunches.

INSTANTLY noticed that. It looks so beautiful almost like the new 296!

Maybe instead of making a 3 AND a y they consolidate it into one like this? Based on this teaser, there’s a 60 percent chance it’s my first car if the price is right… I love how small it is, and the interior will likely be ENORMOUS with the space concept! I do hope the efficiency is above 5, which is unlikely. If lucid made a sedan instead, it would be guaranteed as my first car.

 

[no gas]

Cool! Probably be between a sedan and SUV, no point making 2 models with the same footprint.

 

[joec]

Cool! Probably be between a sedan and SUV, no point making 2 models with the same footprint.

It certainly looks like a crossover. Which makes sense. But I wouldn't be surprised if a small sedan on a similar platform came after that.


Sure, the US market is all about the crossovers. But the world still buys mid-sized sedans in large numbers. Would be an easy win to do a car as well.

 

[hmp10]

Tesla, which didn't do much of a job with space packaging on the S, X, and 3, finally got it together with the Model Y, which I find to have the most comfortable first- and second-row seating in their entire lineup.

If Lucid produces a Model Y-sized CUV and pours their magic space-packaging elixir into it, they should have a mass market hit on their hands.

 

[Bobby]

Here's a few pictures I created with the Model Y.

 

[DeaneG]

Size is unknown but model-Y length seems very likely, apparently the sweet spot.

 

[Haggy]

INSTANTLY noticed that. It looks so beautiful almost like the new 296!

Maybe instead of making a 3 AND a y they consolidate it into one like this? Based on this teaser, there’s a 60 percent chance it’s my first car if the price is right… I love how small it is, and the interior will likely be ENORMOUS with the space concept! I do hope the efficiency is above 5, which is unlikely. If lucid made a sedan instead, it would be guaranteed as my first car.

Alternatively, they could do what other companies do and have variations on the same model. If Tesla had called them the Model 3 and the Model 3XL respectively, it wouldn't have been much different from what a lot of other companies do with variations on what's nominally the same model.

Tesla, which didn't do much of a job with space packaging on the S, X, and 3, finally got it together with the Model Y, which I find to have the most comfortable first- and second-row seating in their entire lineup.

If Lucid produces a Model Y-sized CUV and pours their magic space-packaging elixir into it, they should have a mass market hit on their hands.

Tesla did a decent job with the Model S, but not as good as Lucid. And when Tesla added to the Model S, instead of refreshing it, they worked things into the existing design. So AWD meant a smaller frunk, they didn't get the design right for things like blind spot warnings, etc. I had no problem with space in the Model 3, given what I expected, but I think Lucid can do better. Lucid is going to take what they learn and run with it, which Tesla did, but Lucid is starting from a better place...unless people are intent on certain ADAS features.

Lucid does need to get things together with faster service appointments if they want to be able to support something more mass market though.

 

[hmp10]

Tesla did a decent job with the Model S, but not as good as Lucid.

We have a 2021 Model S Plaid and a Lucid Air Dream Edition -- two cars almost identical in exterior dimensions. With the driver seat in each car set to my preferred driving position, there is 9.5" more fore/aft rear legroom in the Lucid than the Tesla. In terms of automobile interior metrics, this is a vast difference. Both cars have similarly high rear floorboards (at least with the larger Lucid battery pack), but the greater longitudinal distance means a knee angle several degrees more relaxed in the rear of the Lucid. (This is slightly offset by the ability to push the toes a bit more under the front seat of the Tesla.)

In the Lucid, I can push the front passenger seat so far back that my feet don't touch the firewall (I'm 5'7"), and the rear passenger behind me still has ample legroom. If I'm in the front passenger seat of the Tesla and we are carrying an adult in the back seat, I have to pull the front seat so far forward that my head almost hits the top of the windshield for the rear passenger to have reasonable knee room.

Also, despite almost identical exterior width, the front and rear quarters of the Air feel considerably wider. Although the Model S has slightly concave interior door panels, the more exaggerated scooping of the Lucid door panels makes for noticeably more elbow room.

Finally, the Lucid front seats considerably outclass the Tesla front seats in terms of materials, adjustability (the Tesla doesn't have thigh extension, for example), and bottom cushion roominess . . . and this is without even getting into the massage function which the Tesla lacks.

One of the first things Sandy Munro said when checking out a Lucid Air for the first time was that Tesla needed to take a serious look at what Lucid did with interior space.

 

[Bus Driver]

I love Peter Rawlinson and everything - he’s certainly more likeable than another CEO who I will not name - but I wish he’d put his shoulder into getting the Gravity launched into production, and not be distracted by anything else. I really can’t wait to place my order.

 

[xponents]

I love Peter Rawlinson and everything - he’s certainly more likeable than another CEO who I will not name - but I wish he’d put his shoulder into getting the Gravity launched into production, and not be distracted by anything else. I really can’t wait to place my order.

Selfish!!! Just think of me, anxiously waiting for this car and my drivers license to come!

 

[joec]

I love Peter Rawlinson and everything - he’s certainly more likeable than another CEO who I will not name - but I wish he’d put his shoulder into getting the Gravity launched into production, and not be distracted by anything else. I really can’t wait to place my order.

The thing about being CEO of a car company is you sort of have to always be thinking present, six months from now, two years from now, and five years from now simultaneously.

If they put “everything” into getting Gravity shipped right now, two years from now we’d all be calling for his head because “Where’s the damn mid-sized, already!”

 

[joec]

Besides, I doubt Peter is spending half his day taking meetings on this. Probably does a weekly check in.

But you better believe folks like Zeb Coughenour are spending 90% of their days on it.

 

[hmp10]

The thing about being CEO of a car company is you sort of have to always be thinking present, six months from now, two years from now, and five years from now simultaneously.

True. Research has shown that the underlying reason that most employees tacitly accept management hierarchy as legitimate is the lengthening of time horizons as you move up the hierarchy. If you run a business that builds, say, jet engines, you have to make multi-billion-dollar development bets today on where the industry will be in 10-20 years: what size planes will be flying, will air travel be hub-centric, how much will fuel costs drive the purchase equation, etc.

One of the questions about the advisability of Rawlinson holding both the Chief Technical Officer and Chief Executive Officer roles at Lucid revolves around this time horizon question. As CEO, he needs to focus on where EV markets will be on time horizons dictated by automotive development cycle lengths -- typically 7-10 years. This means a lot of time tracking and influencing developments in battery technology, materials science, electronics, propulsion, consumer buying patterns, political trends and legislation relating to fuels and infrastructure, etc. This also means keeping an eye on and recruiting emergent talent in the industry, as well as overseeing the functional integration of the whole organization, all the while being the public face of the company.

On the other hand, the CTO needs to have a much narrower, deeper, and closer-in focus on applied technology -- especially in a car company that is moving as many design and engineering needles at once as Lucid is.

This may explain why photographs of Rawlinson show a man who seems to have aged 20 years in the past 10.

 

[Lucken]

Here's a few pictures I created with the Model Y.
View attachment 17883View attachment 17884View attachment 17885View attachment 17886

Just take off those Tesla door handles.

 

[xponents]

Tesla, which didn't do much of a job with space packaging on the S, X, and 3, finally got it together with the Model Y, which I find to have the most comfortable first- and second-row seating in their entire lineup.

If Lucid produces a Model Y-sized CUV and pours their magic space-packaging elixir into it, they should have a mass market hit on their hands.

The model y has the best second row I have EVER sat in, beating a BMW 7 series for that top spot. Although the knee room is nothing special, the toe room is absolutely massive due to putting those model 3 seats on risers instead of making the seat dip down, wasting space. One of Lucid's notable weaknesses is toe room, so I hope they find a solution similar to the Y with this, with the added benefit of huge knee room as I expect from Lucid!

 

[joec]

The model y has the best second row I have EVER sat in, beating a BMW 7 series for that top spot. Although the knee room is nothing special, the toe room is absolutely massive due to putting those model 3 seats on risers instead of making the seat dip down, wasting space. One of Lucid's notable weaknesses is toe room, so I hope they find a solution similar to the Y with this, with the added benefit of huge knee room as I expect from Lucid!

Most people can’t even reach the toe area of an Air without stretching their knees further than they’d want to.

 

[xponents]

Most people can’t even reach the toe area of an Air without stretching their knees further than they’d want to.

I must be an exception with long legs... I'm 5'9-10 and would appreciate more toe room, especially in the touring. It actually annoys me a lot because my feet feel "claustrophobic" even though they are already at a pretty good angle, if that makes sense?