Lucid Motors Tech and Manufacturing Day webstream presentation live Tue Sep 10, 8AM Pacific

[Joe]

The charge ports on our Tesla Model S is in the side of the rear taillight about as near to the end of the car as you can get. Even so, we often have to back right up to the concrete parking chocks for a Supercharger cable to reach.

The NACS port location shown on the rear of the Gravity would not be within reach of those cables. Even assuming Musk plays even-handedly with Lucid for software access, a Lucid would only be able to use a Supercharger equipped with one of the longer cables that Tesla is supposedly installing at some stations.

It's just one of the reasons I persist in a dim view of the real prospects of relying on Tesla for charging a Lucid.

The red circle is where the charge port is on a Tesla:

View attachment 23184

If I had to guess, they have thought of this beforehand.

Another thing to note is the port is angled. This probably gives a better reach instead of straight side plugin.

 

[hmp10]

Was it shown in two different places? I saw the image of the NACS port on the driver's side rear (the same image Lucid has now posted on Twitter), and then a picture of the first pre-production model coming off the line with a charge port door (which I assume has a CCS port inside it) on the driver's side front. It makes sense that there are two different locations, if the 2024 models will be CCS and the NACS models only come out in 2025....

It was shown on the front in the photos of the pre-production Gravity and also in the graphic of the crash tests. It was shown on the rear of the photo @Joe posted. I'm pretty sure Joe's photo is of the actual location, though.

 

[hmp10]

If I had to guess, they have thought of this beforehand.

Another thing to note is the port is angled. This probably gives a better reach instead of straight side plugin.

I would like to think that, but I assure you that I have been to Tesla Superchargers where the existing cables would not reach the port on the Gravity.

Maybe Lucid already knows that the updated Superchargers that will have the longer cables will be the only ones that Tesla opens up to Lucid, anyway?

 

[hydbob]

I would like to think that, but I assure you that I have been to Tesla Superchargers where the existing cables would not reach the port on the Gravity.

Maybe Lucid already knows that the updated Superchargers that will have the longer cables will be the only ones that Tesla opens up to Lucid, anyway?

The super short cables are the V2 ones anyways right? Those wouldn't be accessible regardless.

 

[TiredPlumber]

My Polestar 2 has charge port located rear drivers side just like Gravity NAC charge port being discussed. I have no issues with cable and handle reaching when using Tesla Supercharger Magic Docks. Also Tesla has been removing bollards and wheel stops ever since Cyber Truck came out with rear wheel well location.

 

[hmp10]

As someone who had an Air reservation for almost four years and a Rivian reservation (which I finally abandoned in frustration) for over four years, I get Rawlinson's point about not wanting to take orders too far ahead of delivery. However . . .

We are probably around three months from first Gravity deliveries. Production body shells are probably already going through the paint shop and moving into inventory. Vendors probably already need to know how many seats to upholster in which colors.

This leads me to wonder if there will not be any taking of custom orders but rather an offering to purchase from whatever Production Planning decides to put through the production line, much as is the case with purchasing an Air right now. Surely if there were going to be a Dream Edition with any unique mechanicals or other features, Production Planning would have needed to know by now how many?

Today's livestream made it obvious that Lucid is trouncing Tesla and other competition across all the technology fronts. However, from a customer perch, I'm beginning to wonder if Lucid is falling into the "you'll-take-whatever-we-produce" Tesla mold for production efficiency instead of the bespoke mode that Porsche has used to reach high profitability at moderate volumes?

 

[hydbob]

As someone who had an Air reservation for almost four years and a Rivian reservation (which I finally abandoned in frustration) for over four years, I get Rawlinson's point about not wanting to take orders too far ahead of delivery. However . . .

We are probably around three months from first Gravity deliveries. Production body shells are probably already going through the paint shop and moving into inventory. Vendors probably already need to know how many seats to upholster in which colors.

This leads me to wonder if there will not be any taking of custom orders but rather an offering to purchase from whatever Production Planning decides to put through the production line, much as is the case with purchasing an Air right now. Surely if there were going to be a Dream Edition with any unique mechanicals or other features, Production Planning would have needed to know by now how many?

Today's livestream made it obvious that Lucid is trouncing Tesla and other competition across all the technology fronts. However, from a customer perch, I'm beginning to wonder if Lucid is falling into the "you'll-take-whatever-we-produce" Tesla mold for production efficiency instead of the bespoke mode that Porsche has used to reach high profitability at moderate volumes?

Well, the good thing about Dream Editions is they were all standard before right? Should make it easier to produce!

 

[NoseyReporter]

Peter mentioned owners being in the audience today. I hope someone from the forum was there, and can give us more insight into what happened after the deck ended. I'd love to get some impression of the Gravity.

 

[hmp10]

Well, the good thing about Dream Editions is they were all standard before right? Should make it easier to produce!

Well, they did add a color (Zenith Red) and split it into a Range and Performance version late in the game — although the R vs P might have been done with software. The color change caused those who chose red to move further back in the delivery queue.

 

[Deathlyshiv]

Surprised no one is mentioning that a dashcam feature is officially confirmed - it's listed as a feature on the slide deck.

 

[joec]

Peter mentioned owners being in the audience today. I hope someone from the forum was there, and can give us more insight into what happened after the deck ended. I'd love to get some impression of the Gravity.

If someone from the forum were there, they would not be able to say anything about it.

 

[joec]

Surprised no one is mentioning that a dashcam feature is officially confirmed - it's listed as a feature on the slide deck.

Yes. I caught that, too. That slide had a lot of nice software features that have long been on our top wish list, as compiled by @Bobby on LucidUpdates.com.

And note that much of what they are working on will be available for Air as well as Gravity. They are sharing as much as they can between both platforms.

 

[coma24]

I thought the deck alone and associated presentation was excellent. It helped reinforce the tone of what Lucid brings to the market as a company, what the vision is, and their track record to date with regards to realizing massive leaps in efficiency over the competition.

It's refreshing hearing a CEO who knows the ins and outs of the vehicles so well. It feels like that isn't always the case.

Seeing the software enhancement list was pretty darned exciting. It was also neat seeing them quote so many people about the latest release, I think some of those quotes came from this forum!

 

[borski]

It was an interesting presentation but not the final Gravity reveal for which I was hoping.

That wasn’t the goal.

 

[Knucklehead]

Since the audience was investors, did they present anything related to when they will be cash flow positive? They are burning through a lot of cash, and if they want people to invest, they have to show a path to profitability. Did they do that?

 

[Neurio]

Since the audience was investors, did they present anything related to when they will be cash flow positive? They are burning through a lot of cash, and if they want people to invest, they have to show a path to profitability. Did they do that?

Certainly not until midsize is well into production. The cash burn to get there will continue to be steep. But as Peter said today, they're investing billions now to be set up for the future, with complete in-house integration of parts and systems.

 

[NoseyReporter]

Since the audience was investors, did they present anything related to when they will be cash flow positive? They are burning through a lot of cash, and if they want people to invest, they have to show a path to profitability. Did they do that?

This was about showcasing the tech and manufacturing capabilities they've been developing.

 

[hmp10]

That wasn’t the goal.

It apparently wasn't their goal, but it was my hope, especially given how near we are getting to first deliveries. After all, the opening words of the Lucid press release about the event were "Lucid Showcases Gravity SUV . . . ." It would not be unreasonable to think this might be the venue for releasing some long-awaited information about specs and features. And I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines:

I would expect some spec info to be released at this event, for sure. At least which trims will be available at launch and what they include? Maybe I'm asking too much, but assuming they are still on track to begin deliveries before year's end, it's getting pretty close to time to reveal some of this info.

 

[hmp10]

Since the audience was investors, did they present anything related to when they will be cash flow positive? They are burning through a lot of cash, and if they want people to invest, they have to show a path to profitability. Did they do that?

Actually, I think they did. In fact, it was as clear a roadmap as I've seen in my many years of sitting in on business reviews. The only element missing was a timeline, and those are notoriously unreliable in most business plans, anyway.

My brother and I have been Tesla owners and observers for a decade now. We both watched today's presentation and independently reached the same conclusion: in ten years, Lucid will be the dominant player in EVs. None of the legacy automakers are stepping up to the technology forefront, and Musk has lost interest in EVs and left his browbeaten organization wandering a bit in the wilderness.

 

[borski]

It apparently wasn't their goal, but it was my hope, especially given how near we are getting to first deliveries. After all, the opening words of the Lucid press release about the event were "Lucid Showcases Gravity SUV . . . ." It would not be unreasonable to think this might be the venue for releasing some long-awaited information about specs and features. And I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines:

Oh I totally hear you. It just very clearly wasn’t the goal of this presentation, in hindsight.

I agree that I was hoping for that too, but once I figured out the goal I understood why they didn’t.

But I do hope they do soon