- Lucid CEO confirms the corporate is on the lookout for extra established automakers to accomplice with.
- It is already in talks with two unnamed automakers after signing a deal to offer Aston Martin with its EV tech.
- Lucid needs to promote 1 million automobiles yearly and it’ll want an OEM’s assist to assist it ramp up manufacturing.
Though Lucid Motors is a startup with a lot much less car-making expertise than conventional OEMs, it has rapidly turn out to be an electrical car expertise chief. It’s keen to share its EV tech with others and it’s already serving to Aston Martin create its personal bespoke EV platform. Nonetheless, it additionally needs to search out extra automakers to accomplice with.
In a current interview with Bloomberg, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson mentioned the corporate was at the moment in talks with “a pair” of automakers, however he didn’t identify names—one in every of them might be Genesis. He mentioned, “It will be beautiful if we might provide expertise to a conventional automotive firm to assist them on their approach to sustainability, and maybe we will leverage economies of scale with their elements bin and different facets of the enterprise.”
In different phrases, Lucid could be interested by supplying its EV tech and anticipate to realize know-how from its potential companions. This doesn’t apply to its take care of Aston Martin, which is one-sided for now, however Lucid expects to earn extra than simply cash from its future partnerships. Aston Martin will launch its first EV, which could have Lucid tech and know-how, in 2026, and it says it has a number of EVs within the pipeline.
Lucid isn’t the one EV startup on the lookout for established OEM companions. Rivian arrange a multi-billion greenback three way partnership take care of Volkswagen to develop electrical automobiles. VW has pledged to take a position near $6 billion, and the partnership’s first automobiles are anticipated to debut in 2027. Apparently, a Volkswagen EV prototype is already working on a Rivian platform with Rivian tech.
Volkswagen additionally owns the Scout EV model, so it’s not solely unreasonable to counsel that the upcoming Scout Terra and Traveler might have some parts in widespread. That can make the truth that Scout and Rivian will not be the identical firm even much less obvious.
Lucid’s in-house-developed electrical motors and 900-volt platform enable it to make a few of essentially the most environment friendly electrical automobiles on the planet. The startup lacks information about scaling up manufacturing into the tons of of 1000’s, which is the place the expertise supplied by a longtime automaker could be very helpful.
Now within the technique of ramping up manufacturing of its second mannequin, the Gravity full dimension SUV, Lucid will then transfer on to making ready the beginning of manufacturing for its third mannequin. This will likely be a smaller and extra reasonably priced midsize electrical SUV, whose beginning value will likely be round $48,000, so it ought to promote in greater volumes than any of its present fashions—the most cost effective Lucid proper now could be the Air Pure, which begins at $71,400, however you possibly can pay over $250,000 for a top-spec Air Sapphire.
Peter Rawlinson beforehand mentioned that Lucid is aiming to promote 1 million automobiles yearly, and it’s banking on not one however two midsize electrical crossovers to get there. This 12 months, it produced round 10,000 automobiles, so it is obtained a protracted approach to go to realize the said aim.
