Facts about Lucid Motors

• Lucid is a relatively new company that makes luxury electric cars. Its stock began trading on July 26 (NASDAQ: LCID), and its value has skyrocketed, already exceeding the stock market value of century-old companies like Ford.

• They claim to be doing more than designing and manufacturing electric vehicles, "We are committed to a more sustainable future", they assure. This mission is reflected in the efficiency of its cars. Due to this, Lucid has been called the 'Tesla Killer', a competitor that can fight Elon Musk's company.

• The company was established in 2007 in California. In the early years, the company focused on creating batteries, but in 2013 they decided to change course and start building vehicles. They added Peter Rawlinson from Tesla for engineering and Derek Jenkins from Mazda for design.

• The star model is the Lucid Air, a high-end sedan. In its premium version, the Air model has 1080 horsepower, with a maximum speed of 270 kilometres per hour and autonomy that exceeds Tesla' Model S: you may drive up to 830 kilometres with Air without needing recharge your batteries.

• In 2020, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia invested 1.3 billion dollars, which allowed them to complete their factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. Production began in 2021, and the first units have already been delivered.

• Lucid Motors has received more than 13,000 orders before producing a vehicle. Its first model won the Car of the Year award from Motor Trend magazine, beating the most popular cars like the Honda Civic.

Lucid vs Tesla: A Comparative Analysis

Vision

Strategically, both CEOs decided to start production for top-of-the-range cars to finance more accessible vehicles. Lucid's first model will be available in four different versions but will cost six to eight times more than an average car. On the other hand, the cheapest Tesla model is priced at $ 42,000 in the United States, a relatively accessible car price in the US.

Leadership

Peter Rawlinson, the creator of Tesla's most successful model, is now the CEO and chief engineer of Lucid Motors. His credibility comes from his CV: he also worked at Jaguar and was chief engineer at Lotus. In addition, he has dozens of patents on battery technology, like the batteries used in Formula E cars. In contradiction, we all know Elon Musk from his controversial speeches and tweets.

Technology

The most critical differences in terms of innovation come from the cargo network and the autonomous driving system. Lucid batteries have a higher capacity and charging speed. Still, the true innovation is in the bidirectional system allowing electricity to pass from one car to another or your home. As for driving assistance, Lucid developed a system of 32 radars, including LIDAR, a technology that Musk has scorned when talking about autonomous driving. Instead, Tesla is betting more on combining sensors and artificial intelligence.

Marketing

Lucid has carried out several traditional advertising campaigns, especially in the United States, where they also installed "surprise boxes" to launch their first vehicle. Tesla makes little investment in these ads, but it is on everyone's lips due to its controversial CEO.

Diversification

As we have mentioned, Lucid specializes in electric cars and batteries. For its part, Tesla Motors 2017 changed its name to Tesla Inc as part of its diversification strategy towards energy production.