- Lucid CEO confirms the corporate is on the lookout for extra established automakers to associate with.
- It is already in talks with two unnamed automakers after signing a deal to supply Aston Martin with its EV tech.
- Lucid desires to promote 1 million autos 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 shortly turn out to be an electrical automobile know-how 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. Nevertheless, it additionally desires to search out extra automakers to associate with.
In a current interview with Bloomberg, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson mentioned the corporate was at present in talks with “a pair” of automakers, however he didn’t title names—one in every of them might be Genesis. He mentioned, “It might be beautiful if we might provide know-how to a standard automobile firm to assist them on their solution to sustainability, and maybe we will leverage economies of scale with their components bin and different features of the enterprise.”
In different phrases, Lucid can be concerned with supplying its EV tech and count on to achieve 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 may 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 autos. VW has pledged to take a position near $6 billion, and the partnership’s first autos 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 completely 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 should not the identical firm even much less obvious.
Lucid’s in-house-developed electrical motors and 900-volt platform permit it to make a few of probably the most environment friendly electrical autos on this planet. The startup lacks data about scaling up manufacturing into the a whole lot of hundreds, which is the place the expertise offered by a longtime automaker can be very helpful.
Now within the means 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 might be a smaller and extra reasonably priced midsize electrical SUV, whose beginning worth might be round $48,000, so it ought to promote in greater volumes than any of its present fashions—the most affordable Lucid proper now’s the Air Pure, which begins at $71,400, however you’ll be able to pay over $250,000 for a top-spec Air Sapphire.
Peter Rawlinson beforehand mentioned that Lucid is aiming to promote 1 million autos yearly, and it’s banking on not one however two midsize electrical crossovers to get there. This yr, it produced round 10,000 autos, so it is received a protracted solution to go to attain the said aim.
