Gravity Orders Discussion

[Batteryman]

I would argue that when Tesla actually goes into production though, they deliver. Lucid did its whole dog and pony show about Gravity production and deliveries in December yet where are they? Even their own stores don’t even know when they’re getting them.

Well, if you want a car that falls apart, yes they deliver on that. Lucid is in a different market and doesn't have the luxury of releasing half baked products.

 

[Batteryman]

Tesla missed deadlines badly and it turned out ok, that is true. But what a difference a few years makes… I bought one of the early Model 3 Dual Motors, and like everyone else my delivery date slipped and slipped. But I waited — because there was no option. Nothing else in the market came close at the time: range, performance, price point, charging network, etc. Nothing even in the ballpark. So I waited, and when my number was called I looked past the terrible panel gaps, wind noise and poor paint quality and happily handed over my cash.

Today would I make the same call? When there are dozens of competent alternatives with access to the same charging network? Not a chance. Nor would I pay what I did at that time for that car. The market has moved on.

Lucid is largely trying to follow Tesla’s playbook a few years behind, but without the first mover advantage it’s hard to overstate how much harder that playbook is. Tesla’s lack of competition meant they were able to absorb huge delays, sell cars at premiums and get away with all types of issues. Lucid simply can’t do the same now that customers have alternatives.

There’s a reason that prior to Tesla you need to go back before WW2 to find another American mass-market automaker that made it. It’s hard. So hard even Apple, the largest market cap company in the world at the time, decided it couldn’t pull it off. I know better than most the challenges Lucid needs to overcome getting the Gravity into production. I also know they have little choice or margin: it’s time to execute. Or die. My money says that even Saudi’s deep pockets won’t save them as an independent brand if they don’t display rapidly improving competence.

Figure in the present antiTesla movement and you have a winner in Lucid. Both Rivian and lucid make desirable products. Understand you need to go back more than a century when humanity moved from horse carriages to horseless carriages fuelled by petroleum. The world in on a precipice of an energy transformation that wont be able to be stopped by a few Republican politicians...solar/EV/Wind and other renewables are here to stay and prosper. This is a golden opportunity for any new manufacturer and explains how China is able to dominate auto manufacturing. They saw this opportunity, they cant compete with ICE engineering stalwarts like the Germans or Janpanese, but saw EV tech as a level playing field and invested heavily, now they reap the rewards. They jumped ahead of Toyota/VW etc.

Saudi are in the same boat. They saw they can establish their own car company, so they invested heavily in Lucid. In a non-EV world, this wouldn't work. But with this new technology, anyone who has the better product can win.

Same with Lucid and Rivian...make a desirable product, have financial backing to weather through the first decade, and you will be fine.

 

[Batteryman]

The crux of the issue isn’t the date, but rather Lucid’s misrepresentation of the situation. Peter repeatedly emphasized their intention to proceed directly to orders, avoiding the same playbook as others with this reservation system, to prevent prolonged waiting times. Considering their past disappointment with the Air reservations not resulting in sales, this move seemed smart. Orders opened on November 7th, and production commenced on December 5th, aligning with order holders expectations and Lucid’s planned launch strategy for the Gravity.

However, what people didn’t anticipate was the months-long wait without any communication, while Lucid continued to act as if everything was progressing smoothly. It’s evident now that the delivery event at the end of Q4 was merely a public relations stunt and a celebration point for next week’s earnings call. Since then, everything has seemingly ground to a halt, with speculation running rampant about the underlying reasons. The lack of communication has made it increasingly clear that the car wasn’t ready for customer delivery. Instead of being transparent and acknowledging their need for more time, Lucid pretended that everything was on track, as evident by celebrating the Supercharger access for only 9 vehicles, followed by opening KSA orders and then Canada. These tactics have little impact but present themselves as progress even though nothing is actually being delivered.

I won't say they're outright liars, but continually stretching the truth is not a favorable image, and this pattern seems to be recurring with Lucid. While Tesla faces criticism for false promises, Lucid is also falling into the same trap. Peter had promised “Hands Free Assist” availability by year-end (2024) back in August 2024, but where is it? It’s nowhere to be found. Lucid Assistant was promoted with promises of regular updates to enhance its capabilities, but the latest update made it even less functional and Android Auto is a running joke at this point. Lucid needs to either step up and deliver on its promises or Peter needs to tone down his narrative because continuing down this path isn't sustainable. Let's be real, if Lucid didn't have the PIF honey pot they'd be in serious trouble right now if not bankrupt already. If they can't master getting low volume vehicles off the line in a timely manner than how on earth are they going to get the mass market vehicle delivered on time.

Come on man, give them a break. Think its easy getting out a new car. Maybe they have some software issues they need to adress. Or a supplier quality issue. Imagine if they released a troubled product...company goes bankrupt. Do you want them to do that? Look at how many other manufacturers had a delivery delay. December delivery was to appease the investors, nothing wrong in that. They have to play to both parties, customers and investors.

I wish people would stop constantly complaining about gravity delays. Do you want a half baked product with issues? I bet no one does. So just let Lucid do it's job. Life isn't perfect, I would think most people realized that by now.