Before that, Hochholdinger spent more than 20 years managing plants for Audi. Once again, Lucid Motors is ready to unveil a production version of its electric sedan, the Lucid Air. I have to be frank with you. Lucid Air’s alloy-and-composite architecture draws heavily on aerospace techniques, it has a claimed driving range up to 517 miles, 0-60 mph acceleration time in the mid-2-second range, and a quarter-mile time just under ten seconds, enough to nose ahead of supercars like the Ferrari F8 Tributo, McLaren 720S and Porsche 911 Turbo. According to Rawlinson, Hochholdinger is empowered to perform. This [sales and long-term service and care] is going to be an imperfect process. Since the beginning of the year, Lucid has announced a series of good news. a job at Lotus, where he eventually became engineering director. Lucid Air is even more so. For the latest auto news and reviews, follow carandbike.com on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We wrote our production system from the ground up and we adapted it to EVs and adapted it to the 21st century.”. My favorite mountain roads await, Mr. Rawlinson. I just hope people love it.”, Mark Ewing has spent his life around specialty and sports cars, as a car magazine editor and in specialty vehicle marketing. Lucid finishes its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, in just one year. “Lucid Air is smaller than Model S and Taycan, it’s shorter and narrower. A car that is intuitive, liberating, and designed for all the ways people get around. “It’s all aluminium, an aircraft-style monocoque,” says Rawlinson, speaking to another significant technological differentiation. If damping and springing properly sorted and calibrated, Lucid Air should achieve both excellent ride quality and handling. That has found its way directly into Lucid Air,” says Rawlinson. A paint shop is a very technical facility—requiring specialized air flow, size, etc.—so you need to make it future-proof from the beginning.”, Hochholdinger also clearly takes pride in the team assembled. According to the previous reports, the total investment in the plant will exceed $700 million. He had no interest in merely one-upping the Tesla Model S. “The other condition was changing the name of the company from Atieva. Welcome to the Lucid Motors newsroom. Rawlinson is CEO of Lucid Motors, which will begin production of its battery-electric 4-door Air in 2021 at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. We are applying innovative engineering, design, and technology to define a new class of vehicle. Manufacturing News Lucid Motors completes Arizona factory construction. Reserve Your Lucid Air. Inside, Lucid has more legroom than a long wheelbase Mercedes S-class.”. Packaging, cooling and cell efficiency innovations pioneered in Formula-E informed design of the Lucid Air battery pack, a rare direct transfer of race technology to a real-world road car, and to date arguably Formula-E’s only useful contribution to humanity. Your fully refundable reservation for a Lucid Air will secure your place in line when deliveries begin. “I said I’ll join under two conditions. “We have over-the-air monitoring to predict service needs. So maybe Model S is the Telecaster…more innovative, more disruptive…and the Lucid Air will become more iconic like the Stratocaster. “All we can do is look at the demographic from our pre-sales,” says Rawlinson, which indicates sophisticated owners who will understand the realities of a high-end start-up. Reality is, ... [+] we are targeting the gasoline-powered luxury sector—Mercedes S-class, BMW 7-series, Audi A8, Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS.”. Lucid is developing products and services for the new world of experiential, on-demand, and sustainable luxury, with the Lucid Air premium sedan as its first platform. One ping only.”, “Porsche Taycan does about 2.5 miles per kilowatt hour—that’s how efficient it is. Please check back often for updates and news, and don’t hesitate to reach out to media@lucidmotors.com with questions or requests. Imola inspired creation of the highly innovative aluminum-intensive Lotus Elise, which stood the performance car world on its ear. Our voltage is more than double that of the Tesla, which is 400 volts and we are 924 volts. Twitter: @ewingassociates and Instagram ewingassociates, © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. Dec 04, 2020. According to Rawlinson, “The whole raison d’etre for Formula-E is to demonstrate the prowess of ... [+] electrification and it singularly failed.” The first-gen Williams Engineering battery pack could only power a car for half the race, drivers forced into a foolish looking fire drill, jumping from the spent car to a second fully charged car. Huibert Mees, who designed the Tesla Model S suspension, and before that the 2004 Ford GT suspension, designed the Lucid Air’s double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension. That is legitimate. Lucid Motors It's been a long road since Lucid Motors first announced its … Electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors has begun working on an SUV, and it could unveil the design as early as this summer, according to two people … “We’re doing the same with Lucid, to the next level with a composite battery pack—nobody’s ever done that before.” The battery pack rigidly attaches to the underside of the aluminium body shell to enhance its structural integrity. “A little company called Atieva reached out to me in 2013 and asked if I’d be interested in joining. Hochholdinger led manufacturing at Tesla. Rawlinson’s first accomplishment at Atieva/Lucid was the second-generation Formula-E battery pack, which powers the cars for the entire race, something no one thought possible. We use ABS to control torque vectoring across each axle. Lucid Motors spent the last few years waiting to break ground on a brand-new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, and the EV startup was finally able put … Taycan has a reduction gear only on the rear,” says Rawlinson. In 2023 Lucid will bring an SUV to market, dubbed Project Gravity. ... [+] The fundamental pieces can be rearranged into vehicles with different silhouettes. I play guitar. “We want to create a remarkably caring experience. Peter Hochholdinger leads global manufacturing. The car is expected to have a price range of around $100,000 and already people have paid a deposit of $1,000 for the car in more than 20 countries. If we can harness the sun in Saudi, use energy storage systems that Lucid can provide, use that to charge electric cars, we can create a whole ecosystem. “I don’t think the Lucid Air will have the same impact as Model S because the Tesla was the first. The packaging and connectivity concepts transferred directly to the road car battery pack. Lucid Motors 01 Dec, 2020, 19:30 IST. Rawlinson refuses any particulars on the structure of Saudi sovereign funding. The primary ... [+] flatscreen is curved and freestanding on the dash top. The Fender Stratocaster was not as disruptive as its predecessor, the Fender Telecaster, but the Strat became more iconic. It’s a longtime strategic investment, they are great partners, they are in for the long haul.”, “We also have an internship program for their best and brightest. Even the fast-charge Tesla Model 3 is only 250kW and 400 volts. Twitter: @ewingassociates and Instagram, Mark Ewing has spent his life around specialty and sports cars, as a car magazine editor and in specialty vehicle marketing. “We have a Body in White shop, and a paint shop, and general assembly. Our drive unit can produce 650 horsepower but weighs 74 kilos [163.1 pounds]. Sony had no idea their cell ... [+] was the perfect DNA match for a racing series, with high energy and power density. 12/04/2020: Lucid Motors completed its 1st factory in AZ where will build 400,000 EVs/year 11/30/2020: Construction is complete on our very first EV factory 11/17/2020: Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, and others join forces to create ZETA: a push for electric cars by 2030 11/17/2020: What Donald Trump Taught the Electric-Car Industry “Our Dream Edition will do the standing quarter in 9.9 seconds. Read the latest Lucid Motors news and browse our full collection of Lucid Motors articles, photos, press releases and related videos. Lucid Motors plans to lead in this new era of mobility by returning to the fundamentals of great design – They know they need to invest in their future, and that’s savvy. This is the first purpose-built EV factory in the US, according to Lucid. Sony sold its battery division to Murata in 2017. Lucid Motors is a privately-held electric car company based in Menlo Park, California. Share this article. Two weeks ago, we didn’t warn Electrify America before we drove one of our cars to a charging station. Double the voltage with half the current. The good news is that Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid Motors, said that the company is still hiring and moving forward with its plan to bring the Air to production. The fundamental pieces can be rearranged into vehicles with different silhouettes. Formula-E now runs full race distance on one charge of a trapezium-shaped Atieva/Lucid battery pack, shown here in a phantom sketch of a Formula-E chassis. [+] by Lucid Motors Inc. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, in Fremont, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) (Photo by MediaNews Group/Bay Area News … We have billions of years of sunshine and maybe tens of years of fossil fuels. Part of my life. News Lucid unveils Air’s Dual-Motor, 1,080 HP powertrain and 9.9-second quarter mile Lucid Motors has released details on the powertrain it will use for its first electric vehicle, the Air. According to Rawlinson, recharging “is much more severe on the pack than just driving. Lucid Inc. skyrocketed as much as 241% on Tuesday after a similarly named company, Lucid Motors, told Reuters that its luxury sedan, the … “I have a team of people with years upon years of experience, so when you put all these problem-solvers together, you understand lessons from countless manufacturers.”, Lucid is pursuing a sales and marketing strategy not unlike Tesla's, with "studios.". of Manufacturing. Lucid Motors sets out to create a car that elevates the human experience and transcends the perceived limitations of space, performance, and intelligence. “Far-sightedness of the Kingdom,” says Rawlinson. Rawlinson scoured Atieva’s meticulous database of known battery cells. It fits into the coke-bottle curved sides of a Formula race car. I own Gibsons for their fine woodwork. It was founded in 2007, previously called "Atieva", and is developing a high-performance luxury sedan which is designed to be a direct rival to the Tesla Model S. That luxury sedan is called the Lucid Air. He spent more than 20 years at Audi, and then at ... [+] Tesla. “Tesla Model S was a landmark car,” says Peter Rawlinson, who led creation of the Model S. According to Rawlinson, his signature is on roughly 70 percent of the patents for Model S. “Lucid Air is the next level, next-generation technology.” Rawlinson is CEO of Lucid Motors, which will begin production of its battery-electric 4-door Air in 2021 at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. Taycan is a smidge lower. It fits into the coke-bottle curved sides of a Formula race car. ‘We have battery technology, and we are developing in-house motor inverter technology,’ they said, though the inverter was pretty primitive. Rawlinson enjoys playing Gibson guitars, and with Lucid, he is putting the band back together. It sounds like some kind of yogurt,” Rawlinson says, then adds mischievously, “I said so politely.” In demeanor and intellect, Rawlinson settles between the wizard headmaster Albus Dumbledore of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, and Colin Chapman, the inventive genius who founded Lotus Cars. Rawlinson quit his job at Jaguar and created this mid-engine sports car, the Imola. “They decided to have more than a toe in this new wave of sustainable mobility. Lucid Motors Factory After evaluating over 60 sites in 13 states for the Lucid Motors factory, we chose a 500-acre property in Casa Grande, Arizona. “With our chargers capable of 350 kilowatts, we got an immediate alert from our engineers when they observed online an all-electric Lucid Air charging well above 300kW at a station in Northern California. The production-ready model doesn't look too far off the 2016 concept. Lucid Motors announced that it completed the first phase of construction at its EV factory in Arizona. I don’t. Lucid Air does about 4.6 miles per kilowatt hour. “I’m interested in how many miles I’m going to get.” Rawlinson is sensible in his arguments, a breath of fresh air. This site uses cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. “Lucid’s competitors will waste more than 100 horsepower under acceleration heating the battery pack. But I admire Leo Fender. The trapezium shape is part of the breakthrough. Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson with a pre-production Lucid Air. The Lucid Air sedan was first seen at the Los Angeles Motor show. Read the latest updates and insights in luxury mobility and automotive electrification from Lucid. RIYADH: Lucid Motors, the Californian electric vehicle (EV) carmaker part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has completed the … When asked about early Tesla Model S quality issues, he answered, “One of the best automakers right now is VW, so when you read what is happening with ID, it’s clear that everyone has this issue. Our cables are only generating 20 percent of the heat.”, “Electrify America is very advanced technically,” says Rawlinson, who signed a deal with the VW Group’s electrification effort. Tesla. If I am stopping for a cup of coffee and I want to put my car on charge, I’m not interested in how many kilowatts are going in,” says Rawlinson. Lucid has plans for “West Palm Beach, Miami, Manhattan, Boston,” says Rawlinson. Former colleagues of my own who have worked with Mees hold him in high regard. Imagine having a closed-source gas station where you can only refill your car at a Gulf or Shell station.”, “Also, the Electrify America rapid system is 1000 volts and up to 350 kilowatts. Impressive as the car is in its specification, engineering and physical presence, we won’t know until journalists and early owners have imposed the chaos factor of miles in the real world. The engineers at Electrify America wondered what on earth had happened.”, This story has been confirmed with Electrify America’s Cliff Fietzek, senior director of technology. Lucid Motors completes $700M factory to produce its first electric vehicles TechCrunch 64d Lucid reveals the price of its base Air sedan — $77,400 minus $7,500 US tax credit The postponement of the New York auto show meant California-based EV startup Lucid Motors didn't hold the global debut of its first production car, the Lucid Air, in April as planned. $1M Awarded To “Unlimited Challenge” Winner For Ultra-Light Intelligent Wheelchair, 2020 BMW 4 Series Coupe Review: Ignore The Face And You’re In For A Treat, Royal College Of Art Students Propose Idea For A Megacity Taxi In 2040, Here Are The Cars That Suffer The Fewest ‘Check Engine’ Problems And Those That Are Cheapest To Fix, Mountain Drive: Ferrari Roma Reinvents Gran Turismo Erotica For The 21st Century, 2021 Toyota Avalon TRD Review: Not Your Typical Avalon, Vroom Acquires AI-Enabled Vehicle Information Provider CarStory, Levrack Mobile Aisle Storage System Enters The Consumer Market. Like Chapman, Rawlinson engineered and built his own sports car, the mid-engine Imola, and presented it to Lotus in 1991, where he eventually served as engineering director. News provided by. In other words, Lucid employs the best proven stability control and power apportionment strategies from gasoline cars, and they have gone the Porsche Taycan one better with a reduction gear at the front as well as the rear. Maybe the long-distance run to Mt. We did it at the drag strip in Sonoma—15, 16 repeatable runs. Palomar. By acknowledging this message or continuing to browse our site, you agree to accept cookies and accept our Terms of Use.Â. Project Gravity, an SUV, should arrive by 2023, greatly broadening Lucid’s market appeal. Sony sold its battery division to Murata in 2017. When you start with the best, you end up with the best. “We have the fastest charging battery-electric car in the world. Credit: Lucid Motors. We have all the repeatability of the Taycan Turbo S,” says Rawlinson. Lucid is a luxury mobility company reimagining what a car can be. was the perfect DNA match for a racing series, with high energy and power density. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, How Digital Workflows Helped Save Basketball During The Pandemic, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation With Forbes Insights. Electrify America is open source. Lucid Air has an alloy-and-composite architecture. The only way to do that is through direct sales and service,” says Rawlinson, and Lucid is obviously following the same pattern as Tesla. In Formula-E we reduced the resistance in the way the cells are all interconnected. By submitting this form, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. And a vehicle control module,” which will apportion power front to rear. I put my heart and soul into the Model S, and I left that program. we are targeting the gasoline-powered luxury sector—Mercedes S-class, BMW 7-series, Audi A8, Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS.”. It would take a ton of money to populate the entire U.S. And to start with we won’t have that many cars out there. We can charge for 20 miles in one minute. The Saudi sovereign fund has financially backed Lucid since 2017. The body structure includes aluminium castings, extrusions, cold-stamped pieces, and also hot-quenched stampings, a highly advanced process for an automotive structure. Lucid offered another chance to collaborate with Rawlinson, and perhaps more importantly the chance to build the first-ever ground-up North American manufacturing plant for EVs thanks to that Saudi sovereign funding. The claimed weight savings make it much easier for Lucid to later introduce their high-performance “tri-motor,” which will have a second rear electric motor. Lucid Motors is a luxury mobility company that is reimagining what a car can be. The Lucid Air is an electric luxury sedan starting with a 240-mile range and 400 horsepower. If this proves valid when journalists are allowed to test the Lucid Air in the coming months, Rawlinson’s claims about efficiencies within the battery pack and cabling are verified. The Lucid Air sedan. We plugged in and drew 340 kilowatts. Proof comes when Rawlinson & Co. turn Lucid Air pre-production units over to journalists, and not just Silicon Valley fanboys. As you can imagine, a company that’s building a 1000-horsepower luxury EV is moving rather quickly. Double the miles of the Porsche, double the efficiency per kilowatt hour,” says Rawlinson. Lucid Motors' factory in Arizona (visualization) The construction started in December 2019. Lucid has developed a flexible platform architecture, what the Germans call an engineering toolkit. flatscreen is curved and freestanding on the dash top. Electric automaker Lucid Motors has completed the initial phase of its $700 million factory, a milestone required to begin production of its first luxury all-electric Air sedan this spring. They are working here in California, very cosmopolitan environment and taking that spirit back to the Kingdom. “It’s a blessing for us that we don’t have to put a billion dollars into a network. Headquartered in Newark, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, the Lucid team brings deep expertise from the automotive and technology industries. Please check back often for updates and news, and don’t hesitate to reach out to media@lucidmotors.com with questions or requests. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. We are elated to see new EVs coming to market that can take full advantage of our advanced charging technology.” As the late Sean Connery might have said, “One ping. “I use the measure ‘miles per minute.’ Some use kilowatts, a measure of the electrons that go into the pack. Lucid Motors has announced that it will reveal the production version of its first all-electric luxury sedan, the Air, in an online event on September 9th. “We are proud of the fact that this factory was built in less than a year, with an eye towards ensuring it is future-proofed for expansion. Lucid Air interior features premium materials. They know the oil won’t last forever, but their sunshine will until our sun becomes a white dwarf. The trapezium shape is part of the breakthrough. Project Gravity, an SUV, should arrive by 2023, greatly broadening Lucid’s market appeal. Lucid Motors announced that it completed the first phase of construction at its EV factory in Arizona. Lucid Motors presented its first electric car to the world in an online reveal from the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters on Wednesday. The packaging and connectivity concepts transferred directly to the road car battery pack. And when Neom happens,” Rawlinson says, referencing the planned city of the future near Aqaba on the Red Sea, “Lucid will be huge there.”. According to Rawlinson, Hochholdinger is empowered to perform. Never been drag racing in my life.” Remembering the day, he says, chuckling, “On my second run when I figured out where the green light was, I went 158 miles per hour.”, Do not be deceived by the Lucid PR and marketing photos that COVID-related events have forced me to post. You may opt-out by. That’s a very healthy thing. mph acceleration time in the mid-2-second range, and a quarter-mile time just under ten seconds. Porsche Taycan rear drive unit with reduction gear weighs about 175 kilos [385.8 pounds] and produces 500 horsepower. If a customer buys one to keep in Montana, it will be more challenging to support,” a scenario familiar to anyone keeping an exotic car at a remote Rocky Mountain ranch. Model S was the safest car in the world because the battery pack was part of the crash structure,” says Rawlinson. I write about automotive design, engineering and technology. I make no apology. electrification and it singularly failed.” The first-gen Williams Engineering battery pack could only power a car for half the race, drivers forced into a foolish looking fire drill, jumping from the spent car to a second fully charged car. “We also have first-class partners who helped us with our equipment. If we haven’t heard from Lucid Motors over the past two years it was to get the company up and running perfectly. We test, we learn, we alter.”, “Specific to Lucid, we have better testing and we built our engineering test cars in the factory already to prove out the processes,” says Hochholdinger. “Lucid Air has a drive unit front and rear comprised of motor, inverter, reduction gearset and differential. They wanted me to do an electric car,” says Rawlinson. So that’s what determines the cooling capacity. By Fred Lambert for Electrek. We’re not going to make any car, we’re going to make the best car in the world, best electric car that’s ever been, and I have a whole bunch of ideas to take us to another level. Peter Hochholdinger is his V.P. The dash is cantilevered, floating. “I’m a road racing guy. I told them I am not interested in mediocrity.” Rawlinson aimed at the world’s finest internal combustion luxury cars—the Germans, Lexus, Jaguar—to elevate electric cars beyond market anomaly.