New Tech Talk with Rawlinson, Drive Unit: Motor

[FastEddi3]

Okay, this is super cool. It's over an hour long, but, wow, there are some really smart people behind this car! He goes into a lot of detail on some amazing innovations that allowed them to make the motors so small and lightweight.

I do have to say. The way that he writes "x" freaks me out a little.

 

[HC_79]

I think people underestimate what Lucid has brought to the table from a Technical and Engineering standpoint. It's funny when you see these videos that Peter really knows his stuff and is very passionate about it. He's very confident in these videos compared to the earnings calls where he tends to stutter, repeat and fumble his way through. The videos are good but it would also be nice to see a company like Munro do an independant review also.

 

[eherlihy1]

Munro has looked at the Lucid Air, and the videos were underwhelming.

Personally, I can't stand Sandy or Corey Munro, or their videos.

 

[Mr_rhythm]

I'm feeling both smarter and dumber after watching this (still watching, I didn't manage to get through an hour in 10 minutes). But wow. Go Lucid and PR!

 

[HC_79]

Munro has looked at the Lucid Air, and the videos were underwhelming.

Personally, I can't stand Sandy or Corey Munro, or their videos.

He hasn't looked at it like the others with teardowns etc. I'm surprised he hasn't picked up a Lucid unless he's worried it will show up his fave company, Tesla.

 

[HC_79]

I like the comments about the "American Company" lol! Like we don't know who that is. The shade he throws coming across as innocent comments is hilarious. They compared the motor to Tesla and Porsche by the look of it and then broke down the weight and HP per Kg

Overall, the Lucid motor is very impressive. The challenge for them is going to be getting future cars into mass production if they really want to be a competitor in the EV space. If they can get the best efficiency on a smaller battery pack to offer a cheaper model than its competitors, Lucid could find themselves in a very promising position. Time will tell how successful they can be battling it out with the competition

 

[HC_79]

Unless it's a Grand Touring in disguise in that video but the wheels on that car belong to the Touring. Maybe a little easter egg for the Touring reservation holders

 

[Halodde]

There is no doubt that the people behind the car and company are brilliant. Makes it even more baffling that they can't/haven't included some seemingly simple things like lane centering and Android auto

 

[HC_79]

There is no doubt that the people behind the car and company are brilliant. Makes it even more baffling that they can't/haven't included some seemingly simple things like lane centering and Android auto

The priority for Lucid was clearly engineering with the software being an afterthought. You can fix software after the fact but if you've got a solid platform from the engineering standpoint it can last for years and save the company huge $$$ in the future as well. It seems from an efficiency and engineering standpoint, Lucid is a serious competitor that should make the competition worried.

 

[Halodde]

I guess my point is that it seems odd that they couldn't have done both the solid engineering platform AND the software. Not being critical, just my lack of understanding

 

[HC_79]

I guess my point is that it seems odd that they couldn't have done both the solid engineering platform AND the software. Not being critical, just my lack of understanding

I get it, sacrifices need to be made to get a product launched and if I was in that position when the mandate is to focus on efficiency etc. then I would choose to throw resources into engineering over software as well, especially when it can be fixed after the fact.. Having said that though, Lucid is coming up to its one year anniversary and the current state of the software needs to show some drastic improvement when it comes to reliability and speed sooner rather than later. If Lucid ticks over the one year anniversary and the software hasn't seen a major update then I think people have every right to start screaming at them for the price point of the car. We know a speedier version is in the works so hopefully its a few weeks away and not months still. I'm suspecting AA, Apple CarPlay and the speedier OS may all be bundled into one big update.

 

[MoniputerLM]

There is no doubt that the people behind the car and company are brilliant. Makes it even more baffling that they can't/haven't included some seemingly simple things like lane centering and Android auto

And they need to stop making cars that die in the middle of a freeway!

 

[Mr_rhythm]

And they need to stop making cars that die in the middle of a freeway!

You mean "that can't shift into Neutral"?

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Lucid should really license their drive unit tech to other manufacturers.

 

[HC_79]

Lucid should really license their drive unit tech to other manufacturers.

I don’t think it’s a case of Lucid not wanting to license it but pride getting in the way with competitors. Tesla was open to licensing and they were shunned to a point where I think old auto thought they’d go away so don’t help them survive. Lucid is going to be in the same boat so unless a new car company wants to start up I don’t see any existing licensing the platform because it will show failure on their part.

Only way Lucid could get the platform in more legacy automakers would be to acquire one who is behind in the EV space. Mazda, Honda, etc. and then build existing models on the new platform. Not sure they’re cashed up enough to start acquiring or whether it’s even beneficial to them at this point.

 

[MoniputerLM]

You mean "that can't shift into Neutral"?

Any car that stops working leaving the driver stranded!

 

[Mr_rhythm]

Any car that stops working leaving the driver stranded!

Agreed - clearly certain features need to be better explained at walk through time, especially for those new to the setup.

 

[FastEddi3]

You mean "that can't shift into Neutral"?

I don’t think it’s a case of Lucid not wanting to license it but pride getting in the way with competitors. Tesla was open to licensing and they were shunned to a point where I think old auto thought they’d go away so don’t help them survive. Lucid is going to be in the same boat so unless a new car company wants to start up I don’t see any existing licensing the platform because it will show failure on their part.

Only way Lucid could get the platform in more legacy automakers would be to acquire one who is behind in the EV space. Mazda, Honda, etc. and then build existing models on the new platform. Not sure they’re cashed up enough to start acquiring or whether it’s even beneficial to them at this point.

Tesla was forced to because of the dumpster fire that was the Tesla Roadster. Musk didn't really want to do it. The $500 million from the Dept of Energy kept them afloat and financed a lot of the development of the Model S, but they had to generate revenue. So the battery development with Daimler gave them revenue and credibility, otherwise they would have gone under. Musk has admitted as much, saying that they would have gone bankrupt without the Smart forTwo deal. Then the Toyota partnership gave them a huge boost in learning how to actually build a car, so their engineers came back actually knowing a little about how to build and, more importantly, manufacture, a car. That was also in exchange for their battery technology. Lucid already has those things, so not sure what any deal would bring to the table. The one interesting possibility would be a partnership in building the low cost vehicle, which could be useful to them in bringing that to the market much faster than their current plan.

 

[ac.bill]

He hasn't looked at it like the others with teardowns etc. I'm surprised he hasn't picked up a Lucid unless he's worried it will show up his fave company, Tesla.

We already know when he does get one he will say the doors could be made more cheaply and why waste all that money on high end suspension parts. Remember when he complained that he couldn't plug a Mach E into a Chademo plug? He's just another Tesla fanboy and it only got worse after Musk gave him that interview. Not one negative word about the 4680 cell disaster in both concept and execution. The 4680 pack teardown showed an unmitigated disaster but they say not a word against it.

 

[JerseyStrong]

I think people underestimate what Lucid has brought to the table from a Technical and Engineering standpoint. It's funny when you see these videos that Peter really knows his stuff and is very passionate about it. He's very confident in these videos compared to the earnings calls where he tends to stutter, repeat and fumble his way through. The videos are good but it would also be nice to see a company like Munro do an independant review also.

It’s why I am still at the table.