Lucid Motors Air

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WetEV

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/lucid-motors-reveals-tesla-killer-160808530.html

The stench of "mobility" was pierced today, as California-based Lucid Motors revealed the Air, a stunning $100,000+ electric sedan hailed as a "Tesla-killer."

But is it?

The answer is no, because the Lucid Air is deliberately in a class of its own.

First, the Lucid Motors Air is gorgeous. For the first time since the release of the Tesla Model S, we have a clean-sheet design for an electric sedan that doesn't include stupid neon green or blue accents to indicate environmental cred. The Air isn't some Wall-E inspired, emasculatory blob on wheels penned by the guy from The Kooples. Primed by last year’s stillborn Faraday reveal, I walked into the Lucid event ready for disappointment, but when the spotlights fell upon the Air I joined the crowd of reporters quietly mouthing "Yeeeeeeees."
 
LeftieBiker said:
Get a grip, man. IMO, it just looks like someone swapped parts between a Dodge Challenger and a Tesla S.

I just quoted the article. I have no additional comment, this isn't my end of the market...
 
I'm skeptical, but these guys certainly sound serious.

Too bad the billions of dollars of risk capital required to launch as a new BEV manufacturer have probably already been flushed down the TSLA.

The Lucid Motors Air may not travel through time and it definitely doesn't look like a phone booth, but its creators tell the hosts of The Autonocast that their futuristic luxury electric car was inspired by the Dr Who spaceship called TARDIS. On the latest episode of Autonocast, Alex, Kirsten and Ed get up close with the Air, lounge in its stunning cabin, and marvel at its innovative design. Then they sit down with the Air's proud parents, Peter Rawlinson and Derek Jenkins of Lucid Motors, to find out what inspired one of the most unique contemporary car designs and how they plan to bring it to market.
http://www.autonocast.com/blog/2017/12/14/35a-lucid-conversation-about-the-next-great-electric-luxury-car

https://lucidmotors.com/
 
edatoakrun said:
I'm skeptical, but these guys certainly sound serious.

Too bad the billions of dollars of risk capital required to launch as a new BEV manufacturer have probably already been flushed down the TSLA.

The Lucid Motors Air may not travel through time and it definitely doesn't look like a phone booth, but its creators tell the hosts of The Autonocast that their futuristic luxury electric car was inspired by the Dr Who spaceship called TARDIS. On the latest episode of Autonocast, Alex, Kirsten and Ed get up close with the Air, lounge in its stunning cabin, and marvel at its innovative design. Then they sit down with the Air's proud parents, Peter Rawlinson and Derek Jenkins of Lucid Motors, to find out what inspired one of the most unique contemporary car designs and how they plan to bring it to market.
http://www.autonocast.com/blog/2017/12/14/35a-lucid-conversation-about-the-next-great-electric-luxury-car

https://lucidmotors.com/

We get it! The monster in your closet is TSLA...
 
Lucid Air announced. Production early next year.

Range 517 miles.

https://insideevs.com/news/437878/lucid-air-estimated-epa-range-517-mi/
 
While few need 500+ miles of range, lots of people need/want 350 miles of range for the life of the car. Barring battery improvements that radically reduce or eliminate degradation, only the brute Force method of providing lots of excess range when new is available.

IEVS:
Lucid Air Versus Tesla Model S And Porsche Taycan: Real-World Range Test

https://insideevs.com/reviews/438723/lucid-air-tesla-model-s-porsche-taycan-range/


. . . Typically, a car's real-world range is about 20 percent lower than the EPA's estimate. We believe it's important to perform real-world range tests for this reason.

Fortunately, Bloomberg was able to test the Lucid Air's real-world range. To make it even more interesting, it also secured a Tesla Model S Long Range Plus and a Porsche Taycan Turbo S. The publication charged all three cars completely and then set out to drive them in convoy until the batteries ran out of juice.

The results were as follows:

Lucid Air: 456 miles (Estimated EPA Range: 517 miles)
Tesla Model S: 355 miles (EPA Range: 402 miles)
Porsche Taycan: 236 miles (EPA Range: 192 miles). . . .
 
The good news is that features start at the top and pretty quickly roll down. A 30k 500 mile EV is only a few years away.

For now, 200-300 (Leaf Plus) meets 99.x% of our needs. Looking forwars to filling that last .x% in 5 yesrs.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
The good news is that features start at the top and pretty quickly roll down. A 30k 500 mile EV is only a few years away.

For now, 200-300 (Leaf Plus) meets 99.x% of our needs. Looking forwars to filling that last .x% in 5 yesrs.


Depends on your definition of 'a few'. I'm figuring 300 miles/$30k base MSRP won't happen until 2023 at the earliest and more likely take until 2025. 400 miles/$25k, which I think will be the point of no return for ICEs, I'm not expecting until 2028-30, but I'll be delighted to be proven wrong.
 
WetEV said:
GRA said:
. . . Typically, a car's real-world range is about 20 percent lower than the EPA's estimate. We believe it's important to perform real-world range tests for this reason.
Porsche Taycan: 236 miles (EPA Range: 192 miles). . . .

Seems ... untypical.


It's been clear for a while now that Porsche chose to be conservative on their range claims, presumably to allow for degradation, and kudos to them. I wish all the companies did likewise. As my old sig used to say, "when nurturing a new technology, under-promise and over-deliver, rather than the opposite." IME you get far happier customers that way, who then go out and proselytize their friends and acquaintances rather than bad-mouthing the tech to all and sundry. One complaint draws more attention than 100 compliments.

Obviously, Nissan and especially Tesla chose the opposite approach. It failed for the former, and has been successful (so far) for the latter. Now that real competition is beginning to arrive we'll see if that continues to be the case.
 
I concur 2025. We are still in the phase where range is worth a premium. You don't pay extra for an ice with a larger gas tank. As the market readjusts back to Premium feel of car, not the range, which it looks like is already happening in Europe, some normalcy will return.
 
400 plus miles of range in a car is artifact of the Gas Shortages in the early 70's through the mid 80's. After WW2 , most cars had a range of 200-250 miles at best. 8 mpg and a 25 gal tank on a lot of the big cars and 14 mpg and 20 gal tank on a midsize car. It was when people started to have to wait in line for hours to get gas that bigger tanks and better gas mileage were demanded. Plus it isn't hard to make a bigger gas tank nor does it add much cost.

Battery degradation is still a problem but even then 300 miles still more than enough range for most people. Once a week at the supercharger or overnight charging at home a couple of times a week ought to be the goal, not some record making range target. Electric trucks might be different if they are used for hauling (you do need a big battery for that).
 
You're ignoring the effect of the interstates and other freeways opening starting in the late '50s and picking up speed in the '60s and ''70s, which allowed people to drive further, faster in the same period of time, thus making greater range more useful. The '65 Impala I learned to drive on had a 20 or 21 gallon tank, and got about 15 mpg in mixed driving, 17 or more on the highway. I once managed 19.9 on one tank. The first time (1969) my dad drove us the 640 miles from Oakland to the Portland area to visit my recently moved cousins, I-5 wasn't complete yet in the Sacramento Valley, which meant we had to crawl through numerous little towns like Arbuckle and Willows on U S. 99W.

The next time (1971?) it was complete, and it took us only about 10 hours of driving and IIRR 1 stop, vice 12-13 and two.

With suburbs spreading ever further out thanks to those freeways ("If you lived here, you'd be home now!"), and people able to take road trips further away, range requirements naturally increased. 300+ miles was common prior to the oil shocks, although they did influence some people to want more range, or more accurately, more days between fill-ups.
 
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