Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Wagon trumps with range
Tesla competitor Lucid launched
So far, Tesla has advertised new customers with its wide range of e-cars. It could be more difficult in the future: American electric car maker Lucid will deliver its first model from the autumn, which could overtake Tesla in terms of range. It is doubtful whether it can even be used to make money.
US electric car maker Lucid says it plans to offer customers longer-range luxury vehicles than Tesla from the end of October. “We’ve freed customers from the fear of limits,” said Lucid boss Peter Rawlison at the start of production in Arizona. “The next big hurdle is the cost efficiency of electric cars. We have to reduce costs.”
The company has announced that it will increase the capacity at the plant to 90,000 vehicles per year over the next two years. The top model Lucid Air Dream Edition, priced at $169,000, will be the first vehicle to roll off the assembly line, followed by the cheaper model. Responsible US officials have certified a version of the Air Dream with a range of 520 miles (837 kilometers) per battery charge, more than 100 miles (about 161 kilometers) than the comparable Tesla Model S.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that his company would move away from a vehicle with a range of 520 miles. Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at consulting firm Guidehouse Insights, said the challenge for Lucid now is to bring production processes under control. “I think they have a great car.” Tesla also had to deal with production problems in the early days. Musk recently admitted that it was extremely difficult to manufacture cars profitably.
