Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
In an interview at the Financial Times Car Summit, in London, Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said electric vehicle manufacturers from China are “many years behind Tesla” despite admitting “they’re a lot better than they’ve been”.
When asked to add more details on his statement, Rawlinson mentioned the battery and the drivetrain technologies as some of the examples where he sees Tesla having no competition from China.
NEVER MISS AN UPDATE
“If you look at the the elegance of their drivetrain technology, the batteries, the way things are integrated, just the size of the units and the power output, the volumetric power density of their drive units, the overall efficiency of the system, it’s not even close [to Tesla].
Lucid CEO admitted that Chinese OEMs have been improving a lot over the last years while expecting a second wave of improvement as the focus shifts to powertrain technology.
“Now that isn’t to say that we should underestimate them. We underestimated the Chinese ability to make good cars. They’re shockingly good. They’re a lot better than they’ve been. They’re not quite there yet, but they’ve come on a lot. I think they’ll turn their attention to the core powertrain very soon if they’re not doing so already. I think, it might happen a second wave of improvement here. But right now, there are many years behind Tesla”.
“I was looking at the number of units in the Geneva Motor Show that were on display and the engineering is very disappointing,” he concluded.
Lucid announced on Wednesday the opening of two new service centers in Europe adding that it is preparing to open three new showrooms in Germany.
“Lucid continues to expand in Europe by officially opening new state-of-the-art service centers in Munich and Zurich to better support our growing owners community. The expansion plan will continue with studio openings in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart,” the company stated.
During the first quarter, the electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid delivered 1,967 vehicles, a nearly 40 percent growth compared to the first three months of last year. In the conference call that followed the earnings release, the CEO Peter Rawlinson disclosed that over 500 of them were delivered to Saudi Arabia.
Lucid has reiterated its annual production guidance of 9,000 vehicles for 2024 despite warning investors that its cash reserves, cash equivalents, and investments are projected to last until the second quarter of next year.
The CEO Peter Rawlinson announced that the company’s midsize model will enter production in late 2026, with a price expected to be around $48,000.
Earlier this week, Lucid announced on X that the Air model now comes with a $1,000 Charging Allowance toward the purchase of Lucid charging accessories, and up to two years of complimentary scheduled maintenance.
Last month, Lucid Motors signed a partnership with the electric vehicle (EV) charging company Wallbox to provide chargers to its European customers.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
