Lucid exec lays out game plan to destroy Tesla

In today’s electric vehicle market, a wide field of traditional automakers are competing for crumbs of Tesla’s dominance.

One of these manufacturers is Lucid (LCID) a firm based in Newark, California that currently produces only one model.

Its only car, the $69,900 Air sedan, isn’t cheap, but it’s an electric vehicle that’s garnered mainstream attention and praise. Auto authority magazine Car and Driver listed the entry-level Air Pure as one of its 10 best cars for 2024, noting that it’s a “base model (…) that makes you feel like you’re holding a ticket of gold. instead of coupon.”

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Additionally, for 2025, Lucid has given the Air Pure a number of upgrades that have made it the most energy-efficient vehicle ever made, thanks to smaller, more efficient batteries.

Recently, a key Lucid executive sat down with auto blog CarBuzz, where he revealed some plans to catch Tesla’s fire.

A Lucid Air electric vehicle (EV) at the company’s showroom in Tysons, Virginia

Bloomberg/Getty Images

The “Mid-Size” line.

In an interview with CarBuzz, Derek Jenkins, Lucid Motors’ senior vice president of Design and Brand, said the brand is working on three different vehicles as part of its “mid-size” program.

Jenkins told the publication that the new vehicles will be “compact, lighter vehicles” focused on “(aerodynamics), efficiency and space.” In the same vein that Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y were intended to be smaller versions of the Model S and Model X, respectively, Lucid plans to fill the “midsize” cars with the sedan’s best parts Air and the future Gravity. SUV in a package with a wider appeal and a more attractive price.

“It’s not going to be as fast as the Air, but it’s going to be impressive and it’s going to be at a value that a lot more people can access,” Jenkins told CarBuzz.

“The whole idea is to take our technology and reach a wider range of consumers and accelerate that transition. We create a number of personalities around that program. But you have to do that by inspiring people and allaying any fear or doubt that they’re going to EV.”

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Lucid Design SVP noted that two of the three planned vehicles include a sedan intended to take on the Tesla Model 3 and a compact crossover SUV to take on Tesla’s bestseller, the Model Y. However, according to Jenkins, the third potential vehicle is a wildcard that could target one of Rivian’s upcoming cars – the off-road oriented R3X.

Jenkins notes that vehicles in the off-road space, such as those from Subaru or future vehicles like the Rivian R3X, address an untapped market that Lucid wants to address.

“The off-road space will continue to transform and evolve. You’ll have products that try to fit the edge of off-road, like rock crawlers, and then you’ll have the regular crossover products,” Jenkins. said.

“It makes sense because you start to benefit from two worlds. You get something that’s a little bit sleeker and a little bit car-like to get the efficiency, both the space and the aerodynamic efficiency, but you get beefed up. to give you a little bit more of that robustness and durability, I think there’s a whole new category of products that could still be on the drawing boards for a lot of companies, which is an important area to explore.

Related: Lucid Teases Future EV That May Entertain Tesla Buyers

Model Y syndrome

According to data from Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive, Tesla has a hot product with the Model Y and Model 3. In Q2 2024, the Model Y had the largest share of the total electric vehicle market, capturing 30.7% of all sales . Tesla also has the second largest EV market share as the Model 3 captured 12.9% of sales during the same period.

With such strong sales, it’s no wonder why other manufacturers would want to capture some of the same magic. However, according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, the Model Y is the only reason for the slowdown in electric vehicle sales, noting that most automakers are trying too hard to make a Model Y or Model 3 competitor, which ends up creating a crowded market by “copycat”. products” that lack the “X-factor” that the real Tesla has.

As a result, buyers are “making do” with cars that look like the Model 3 and Model Y, which may not exactly fit their needs or lifestyle.

Like the Rivian, the Lucid has a “meaningful” design and premium image that can prove valuable in differentiating itself from the “egg-shaped” Y and its similarly priced knockoffs.

“So maybe they wanted a true SUV and got a crossover very similar to the Model Y,” Scaringe said. “Maybe they wanted something that was a little bigger, but they got something that looked more like the Model Y. Maybe they didn’t like the look of the Tesla, but it’s the best product, so they got the Model Y.”

Lucid Motors, which trades on Nasdaq as LCID, rose 10.49% to trade at $3.58 at the closing bell today.

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