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Thoughts and questions on Uber-Self-Drive Gravity

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BS8899

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I moved to the Phoenix area in 1992. Around the mid 1990's I saw EVs (GM-EV1) cursing the streets in my area. GM has a testing ground in AZ and some of these cars were consigned to testers living in my area. I became interested in EVs.

As many forum readers are aware, the Phoenix areas was/is a major testing ground for self-driving cars for the past 15 years. Waymo is big in the Phoenix area. I take a Waymo when I need to go to the airport. They are great! More recently, Waymo is also in the Bay Area where I have my second home. I also take Waymo in the Bay Area as well.

So, when I read the new release that Lucid Gravity will be Uber's self-driving car choice, I thought it would be a great opportunity for Lucid, so long as it doesn't distract Lucid from its core business. That remains to be seen.

As many of you know, the Jaguar iPace was Waymo's primary platform. So, I Googled how many iPace Waymo operates. Google says Waymo currently has 1,200 iPace. Waymo might be adding more, but the iPace is actually out of production. As successful as Waymo-iPace is in the markets I am familiar with (Phoenix/Bay Area), the 1,200 number was astoundingly small! Waymo's pioneering effort didn't seem to help the iPace/Jaguar stay in the EV business!

Now, Uber's choice is the Gravity. They are talking in excess of 25,000 units (total, over several years).

Q: As Lucid enthusiasm in this forum, what do you think of the Uber-Gravity deal? With all the existing challenges in front of Lucid, can Lucid execute or is it too much of a distraction?
 
I think it’s a very important deal for lucid. The expansion to that deal will include Cosmos and expand to 35000 cars potentially. Brand awareness and brand trust is the absolute weakest link at Lucid right now (Which is saying a lot considering…).
I think this deal gives them a high impact, moderate risk exposure to mass upscale market.

Also the total number of these Uber cars on the road won’t be like Priuses or Model Ys. It will still be viewed as an exclusive luxury Uber option which is what they need.
 
I see this as a potentially huge win for Lucid if they can execute without hurting retail deliveries. The biggest benefit isn’t just unit sales, it’s exposure. A lot of people still have never sat in or even seen a Lucid in person, and riding in a self-driving Gravity could be their first experience with the brand. That kind of real-world visibility is hard to buy with advertising. The volume could also help production scale and improve supplier economics. My concern is execution: Lucid is still working through manufacturing, service, and profitability challenges. If resources get diverted and current customers feel delays, it could backfire. But if managed well, this could bring revenue, awareness, and validation all at once.
 
VernettaNowak said:
I see this as a potentially huge win for Lucid if they can execute without hurting retail deliveries. The biggest benefit isn’t just unit sales, it’s exposure. A lot of people still have never sat in or even seen a Lucid in person, and riding in a self-driving Gravity could be their first experience with the brand. That kind of real-world visibility is hard to buy with advertising. The volume could also help production scale and improve supplier economics. My concern is execution: Lucid is still working through manufacturing, service, and profitability challenges. If resources get diverted and current customers feel delays, it could backfire. But if managed well, this could bring revenue, awareness, and validation all at once.
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Presently, they can build more than their demand.
 
VernettaNowak said:
I see this as a potentially huge win for Lucid if they can execute without hurting retail deliveries. The biggest benefit isn’t just unit sales, it’s exposure. A lot of people still have never sat in or even seen a Lucid in person, and riding in a self-driving Gravity could be their first experience with the brand. That kind of real-world visibility is hard to buy with advertising. The volume could also help production scale and improve supplier economics. My concern is execution: Lucid is still working through manufacturing, service, and profitability challenges. If resources get diverted and current customers feel delays, it could backfire. But if managed well, this could bring revenue, awareness, and validation all at once.
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I don't disagree with the potential benefits you stated, that is, if Lucid is a healthy company. But Lucid is not a healthy company. If the only thing they need to do is to give Gravities to Nuro/Uber and Nuro/Uber will do the rest, that would be fine. If Lucid has to spend significant engineering efforts to debug/fix issues for Nuro/Uber, that would be distractions that Lucid can't afford!
 
VernettaNowak said:
I see this as a potentially huge win for Lucid if they can execute without hurting retail deliveries. The biggest benefit isn’t just unit sales, it’s exposure. A lot of people still have never sat in or even seen a Lucid in person, and riding in a self-driving Gravity could be their first experience with the brand. That kind of real-world visibility is hard to buy with advertising. The volume could also help production scale and improve supplier economics. My concern is execution: Lucid is still working through manufacturing, service, and profitability challenges. If resources get diverted and current customers feel delays, it could backfire.



But if managed well, this could bring revenue, awareness, and validation all at once. Unlock exclusive rewards with https://rainbet-aus.com Rainbet in Australia.
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Another angle is how this affects brand perception. If people associate Lucid with a premium autonomous ride experience, that could strengthen its position in the luxury space. On the flip side, if the rollout has issues or reliability problems, it could hurt trust. It really comes down to how polished the experience is from day one.
 
BS8899 said:
I don't disagree with the potential benefits you stated, that is, if Lucid is a healthy company. But Lucid is not a healthy company. If the only thing they need to do is to give Gravities to Nuro/Uber and Nuro/Uber will do the rest, that would be fine. If Lucid has to spend significant engineering efforts to debug/fix issues for Nuro/Uber, that would be distractions that Lucid can't afford!
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Why would Lucid need to debug Nuto’s/Uber software bugs?
 
gaskiller said:
Why would Lucid need to debug Nuto’s/Uber software bugs?
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I did not say "Lucid has to debug Nuro/Uber's SW bugs". It is inevitable that the Lucid/Nuro/Uber robo-taxi project will uncover integration issues that require Lucid's attention/fixes.

If Lucid is a strong, vibrant, company executing on all fronts, I think the Lucid/Nuro/Uber project would be a good learning and PR vehicle. My concern is that Lucid is not a healthy company in its execution and financials. The number of vehicle-sale to the robo-taxi in the coming 3-4years will be a nit. I am concerned that whether Lucid can afford this distraction.
 
BS8899 said:
I did not say "Lucid has to debug Nuro/Uber's SW bugs". It is inevitable that the Lucid/Nuro/Uber robo-taxi project will uncover integration issues that require Lucid's attention/fixes.

If Lucid is a strong, vibrant, company executing on all fronts, I think the Lucid/Nuro/Uber project would be a good learning and PR vehicle. My concern is that Lucid is not a healthy company in its execution and financials. The number of vehicle-sale to the robo-taxi in the coming 3-4years will be a nit. I am concerned that whether Lucid can afford this distraction.
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They have to get on the Robotaxi bandwagon now, or they fall behind significantly. They have no choice.

Agree, they are overextending.
 
gaskiller said:
They have to get on the Robotaxi bandwagon now, or they fall behind significantly. They have no choice.

Agree, they are overextending.
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The problem I see is, the near-term (next 3-4 years) volume generated from this thrust is going to be small. As discussed before, Waymo, the market leader for robo-taxi, currently operates ~1,200 iPace. They might add a few more as they expand in other geographies. That's a pitifully small volume.

Inasmuch as Nuro/Uber is going to do a lot of the SW stuff, Lucid still has to put forth substantial effort. Can they afford this?!
 
Try one ride on Tesla and one ride on Lucid, the difference will be obvious.
 
can we just license Nuro for the Air and Gravity pretty please?!?!?! We dont need level 4... Just 2 plus... In China manufactures can partner with a multitude of companies that provide fsd... Better than Tesla even... Nuro/Nvida is accepted by the US... lets use it instead of trying to develop our own...
 
Ktw13 said:
Try one ride on Tesla and one ride on Lucid, the difference will be obvious.
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You’re saying Tesla robotaxi will be better… ride experience or safety? Not sure what you’re referring to. Have you already tried Lucid robotaxi?
 
RajD said:
You’re saying Tesla robotaxi will be better… ride experience or safety? Not sure what you’re referring to. Have you already tried Lucid robotaxi?
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I have ridden on Uber Tesla taxi, the suspension is just horrible that I swore I will never buy one of those.
Lucid on the other hand, be it Air or Gravity the comfort is night and day better compared to Tesla.
Uber customer would appreciate the fine ride quality of Lucid, and might become customer themselves.
 
That’s a
Ktw13 said:
I have ridden on Uber Tesla taxi, the suspension is just horrible that I swore I will never buy one of those.
Lucid on the other hand, be it Air or Gravity the comfort is night and day better compared to Tesla.
Uber customer would appreciate the fine ride quality of Lucid, and might become customer themselves.
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thats a fair point. Provided the A to B task is handled efficiently and reliably , I would imagine this would best the Uber Black experience and anything Tesla would offer.

I agree it’s a high risk but also high reward visibility for marketing Lucid to more people.
 
Heard (Bloomburg radio) this afternoon that Waymo is seeking ways of getting out of its agreement to work with Uber.
 
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