Should you’ve been holding out hope for a Lucid Motors pickup truck, do not hassle. The electrical-vehicle startup is not thinking about going toe-to-toe with the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T, its CEO stated on Tuesday. Not with out a main breakthrough in battery expertise, at the least.
“I actually suppose that it’s extremely robust to make an electrical pickup truck work at this time,” Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson stated throughout its Expertise and Manufacturing Day occasion at its Arizona manufacturing facility. “Not one which’s usable and cost-effective.”
Why? Pickup vehicles are massive and heavy. Their homeowners demand the power to tow issues, an exercise that offers a significant blow to EV vary. Pickups—electrical or in any other case—aren’t precisely recognized for his or her effectivity. All of this necessitates enormous battery packs that drive up the price to shoppers, Rawlinson stated. That is at odds with Lucid’s driving philosophy, which is a deep concentrate on getting probably the most miles out of the smallest battery pack doable.
Lucid Motors
Lucid’s subsequent automobile is the 2025 Gravity, a seven-seat SUV beginning manufacturing in late 2024.
In order that clay mannequin of a Lucid pickup truck that floated across the internet is not coming anytime quickly, it appears.
“If you’d like a 300-mile-range pickup, which is not sufficient as a result of the factor’s received to tow, you are already right into a pack measurement of 120 kilowatt-hours,” he stated. “I feel the minimal threshold for a usable pickup might be 150 kilowatt-hours.”
In the meantime, the Lucid Air Pure can journey 420 miles on a full cost with a battery pack that is 84 kWh. That is simply not taking place in a pickup truck. A few of at this time’s EV pickups, Rawlinson stated, have a pack that is bigger than 240 kWh. He is in all probability speaking in regards to the massive ol’ GMC Hummer EV.
“Now, how on Earth are you ever going to try this round 50, 55, $60,000 and make a enterprise case?,” Rawlison stated. “Because of this I am very reluctant for—I do not need Lucid to start out fascinated with a pickup truck.”
For a Lucid pickup to be practical, he stated it’s going to want “a profound enchancment in gravimetric power density of cell chemistry, in addition to the work that we’re doing in effectivity.”
InsideEVs
GM clearly disagrees with Rawlinson’s evaluation. It simply launched the 2024 GMC Sierra EV.
Not all producers are satisfied. Rivian, a fellow EV startup, has obtained heaps of reward for the R1T, the primary electrical pickup to hit the U.S. market in 2021. Ford has the Lightning. Normal Motors now has three electrical pickups in its steady from GMC and Chevrolet. Tesla not too long ago launched the Cybertruck.
Clearly, Rawlinson has an incentive to persuade traders and Wall Avenue analysts that Lucid is doing issues the sensible, proper manner and all these rivals are lacking one thing. Furthermore, it would not precisely be simple to Lucid to interrupt into America’s cutthroat pickup market, which is essentially dominated by GM, Ford, Toyota and Stellantis. However the info assist his argument about EV pickup price. None of these choices talked about above are low cost within the slightest, and that could be hurting their enchantment.
Ford
The Ford F-150 Lightning.
The Rivian R1T will run you $69,900 to start out, or at the least $76,900 if you need over 300 miles of vary. The corporate expects general manufacturing to stay flat this 12 months, and says it wants lower-priced fashions to increase its attain. An F-150 Lightning with the 320-mile battery pack possibility begins at $67,995. Ford is not being profitable on its EVs but and has needed to drastically revise down its manufacturing plans for the Lightning within the face of lower-than-expected buyer urge for food.
Is Rawlinson heading in the right direction right here? Ought to Lucid make a big-ass truck to fulfill the wants of American patrons? Drop a remark under and tell us what you suppose.
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