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Top Gear: Lucid chief says “Tesla is distracted right now”

Lucid Group boss Peter Rawlinson reckons Californian rival Tesla has its eyes off the ball.


Speaking at the FT’s Car of the Future summit, the ex-Tesla chief vehicle engineer (who created the Model S) said: “I think that Tesla is distracted right now. There’s a degree of distraction which is worrisome.


"I think it’s for Lucid now to really take the mantle and to really help the technology kick off with absolute laser focus on the mission to create more electric cars to drive down the cost.”


In his keynote discussion, the Lucid chief also said we’re looking at batteries all wrong. He reckons how far the battery travels per kilowatt-hour is the more sensible way to judge the battery capacity.


There’s currently two ways of describing official battery range – the US’s EPA result and the EU’s WLTP number… and three, if you count China’s CLTC figure, too. But these lab numbers have very little to do with real-world results.


Rawlinson argues that judging the battery capacity on its density is fairer to consumers. “Almost anyone can claim to make a thousand kilometre-range car. If you stuff enough batteries in, it's relatively easy. And that's what some companies are doing. It's just not a legit exercise.”


The engineer claims the key is to go further with fewer batteries. By that token, the Lucid Air has a 4.74 miles-per-kWh capacity. (To put that into context, the Mercedes EQS has a 3.2 mpkWh capacity.)


Rawlinson says reaching 6 mpkWh capacity will enable smaller cars to be made, since they’ll be able to carry smaller (and cheaper) battery packs for the amount of daily or weekly miles they’ll need to be able to do. That, in turn, will bring the cost to a much lower price point.


Rawlinson said: “I don't aspire for us to do the $25,000 car, but if you could get a 6mpkWh car because you've got Lucid technology and if you've got a fast charging network that you know is reliable, why do you need more than 150 miles range? You’d only need a 25kWh battery bank. And the way that particularly LFP [battery tech] is going, that pack [could cost] under $3,000, maybe closer to $2,000 in a few years’ time. That is the enabler for the $20,000 car for the mass market.”


The Lucid boss has staked a lot in this new EV venture. The company got the backing of Aston Martin last year, in a deal that pulled it back from the brink of bankruptcy. But the share price has been less enthusiastic. While it’s creating a 90,000-car capacity factory in Arizona, and has dropped the cement for a 150,000-unit one in Saudi Arabia in recent days, the firm only sold 6,001 cars of the 8,428 it built in 2023 – a bit surprising when you consider how well the Lucid Air Sapphire actually drives.


Rawlinson reckons Mercedes is a bigger problem. He said: “We're up against the cache, the three pointed star, the allure of companies with a long and storied racing history. We don’t have that.”
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borski said:
I way prefer the Lucid PR team to this one: https://www.teslarati.com/lucid-q1-results-elon-musk-reaction/
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It's the equivalent of "Hey honey, let the kids play!" With Tesla being the kids and Lucid being the actual grownups in the room. I much prefer the more mature messaging of Lucid, and Rawlinson never calling out their cars in interviews adds to this perception. Rawlinson is a gentleman.. the same cannot be said of Elon. But hey, hes Bri'ish, its to be expected 🤣
 
Deisic said:
That’s kinda bold considering…
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Wanna finish that sentence for the rest of us that don’t live inside your head? :)

Personally, I’m glad to see a professional but honest response. Tesla *is* distracted, and this is a good opportunity for Lucid.
 
borski said:
Wanna finish that sentence for the rest of us that don’t live inside your head? :)

Personally, I’m glad to see a professional but honest response. Tesla *is* distracted, and this is a good opportunity for Lucid.
Click to expand...
It is a perfect opportunity for lucid to get ahead. However to go after Elon, who pretty much created the opportunity for Lucid to even be here is kind of lame and pretty brazen for an executive that has still yet to show his own competence. I know those two have been going after each other, but I don't really see how it benefits him as a leader.
 
Deisic said:
It is a perfect opportunity for lucid to get ahead. However to go after Elon, who pretty much created the opportunity for Lucid to even be here is kind of lame and pretty brazen for an executive that has still yet to show his own competence. I know those two have been going after each other, but I don't really see how it benefits him as a leader.
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I disagree because the two things aren't mutually exclusive. Elon's investment into Tesla made the EV industry what it is today, but Peter didn't even say anything that we all aren't thinking already about Tesla being distracted. Not sure it's brazen considering the mass layoffs Tesla has been experiencing recently. Also, for a "car company" to claim it's not seems like a distraction.
 
Deisic said:
It is a perfect opportunity for lucid to get ahead. However to go after Elon, who pretty much created the opportunity for Lucid to even be here is kind of lame and pretty brazen for an executive that has still yet to show his own competence. I know those two have been going after each other, but I don't really see how it benefits him as a leader.
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I think calling the statement “Tesla seems distracted” anything but “obvious” is absurd, and would require one to have had their head in the sand for the last few years.

It’s hardly “brazen” to say what everyone already knows.

And, by that same token, when the other party responds on Twitter with a few haha emojis and constantly lies about what their competitors’ role was in building up Tesla to where it is today, vis-a-vis the Model S… my money’s on the Brit over the South African.
 
Also, look, a CEO which can ACTUALLY PRAISE competition for doing stuff right! Elon definitely does not have the capacity to do that..
apple.news

Lucid CEO says Chinese automakers are still 'years behind' Tesla — Business Insider

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said Chinese automakers are still "years behind" Tesla on EV technology. He told a Financial Times conference that car companies should not "underestimate" Chinese firms. Companies such as BYD are now challenging Tesla in China after years of rapid growth.
apple.news apple.news
 
Deisic said:
It is a perfect opportunity for lucid to get ahead. However to go after Elon, who pretty much created the opportunity for Lucid to even be here is kind of lame and pretty brazen for an executive that has still yet to show his own competence. I know those two have been going after each other, but I don't really see how it benefits him as a leader.
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Mmmm….go look at Musks tweets, shows you what being brazen is. Peter has always been a role model. Imaging telling your kids that you should behave like Elon Musk. I have a lot more respect for Peter, Musk behaviors has made me dislike him over the past few years. Yes, he achieved a lot, but that doesn’t give you the license to behave like a jerk to everyone. Any CEO who goes political has no emotional intelligence.
 
Teslas are not terrible cars, I’d give that trophy to Dodge or Chrysler, but unstable leadership risks jeopardizing many of the positives of Tesla. There’s a remarkable lack of focus at Tesla becoming public thanks to Elon’s erratic approach. Meanwhile Lucid has appeared remarkably stable and consistent in their plans, development and execution since day 1, albeit a little behind and less production/demand which is in line with the rest of the EV luxury sedan market. Lucid is going to eventually have to get to profitability but it’s ludicrous to expect that in an expansion phase, and I feel like their cash burn in relation to their plans is actually less concerning than Rivian which has had to postpone and entire plant to save $. Not exactly sure why Tesla is chopping the company to pieces given they’ve got the manufacturing and base and network firmly in place. Maybe the Cybertruck wreaked some internal havoc we’re not privy to yet. Or the simpler explanation is Elon’s on drugs. Maybe it’s both. 🤨
 
Deisic said:
... Elon, who pretty much created the opportunity for Lucid to even be here
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sometimes we need a complete asphole to break things and make change happen. perhaps Elon is just lucky and timed it with advancements in battery tech, but GM, in bed with the oil giants, couldn't make a practical EV... nobody could until the government started funding Elon's projects.

As much as I find Elon repugnant, he did lead us, or gave a face to accepting EVs as the way of the future. He seems to have a knack for finding brilliant engineers...like Peter. Thomas Edison, another complete asphole and repugnant leader, discovered Nick Tesla, then stole his ideas and claimed them as his own. These kinds of folk seem to be necessary for progress = assholes and heros bring out the best of us.

I hope I don't come off as a hero worshiper... I'm so afraid to know more about Rawlinson, because at the moment, he is my hero.

Yes, I am Welsh on mother's side (Wallace = "a person from Wales"). I fly "Y Ddraig Goch" over the front door... hand-made by a PA Deutsch witch, Hunter Yoder. I am not superstitious, unless it works. It works. Peter has immense power, but he's cool about it. I bet he has a good singing voice too.
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Also, and I've said this here before...too many trivial posts about "my buttons don't work" "my tires are flat" "my car makes noises" " it doesn't go 500 miles per charge". bullship. you babies. you got a million-dollar car for almost nothing. get over it.
 
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