- Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson mentioned he is reluctant for Lucid to make an electrical pickup truck throughout an occasion on Tuesday.
- He mentioned it is unrealistic to make EV pickups which can be usable and cost-effective with no breakthrough in battery know-how.
- That is as a result of EV vans require greater, dearer batteries than different car sorts.
In case you’ve been holding out hope for a Lucid Motors pickup truck, do not trouble. The electrical-vehicle startup is not enthusiastic about going toe-to-toe with the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T, its CEO mentioned on Tuesday. Not with no main breakthrough in battery know-how, not less than.
“I actually assume that it’s extremely powerful to make an electrical pickup truck work at this time,” Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson mentioned throughout its Expertise and Manufacturing Day occasion at its Arizona manufacturing unit. “Not one which’s usable and cost-effective.”
Why? Pickup vans are large and heavy. Their house owners demand the flexibility to tow issues, an exercise that offers a serious 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 fee to customers, Rawlinson mentioned. That is at odds with Lucid’s driving philosophy, which is a deep concentrate on getting essentially the most miles out of the smallest battery pack doable.
Lucid Motors
Lucid’s subsequent car 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 net is not coming anytime quickly, it appears.
“If you need a 300-mile-range pickup, which is not sufficient as a result of the factor’s acquired to tow, you are already right into a pack measurement of 120 kilowatt-hours,” he mentioned. “I believe 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 mentioned, have a pack that is bigger than 240 kWh. He is in all probability speaking in regards to the large ol’ GMC Hummer EV.
“Now, how on Earth are you ever going to do this round 50, 55, $60,000 and make a enterprise case?,” Rawlison mentioned. “That is why I am very reluctant for—I do not need Lucid to start out interested by a pickup truck.”
For a Lucid pickup to be practical, he mentioned it’s going to want “a profound enchancment in gravimetric vitality 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. Basic Motors now has three electrical pickups in its steady from GMC and Chevrolet. Tesla just lately launched the Cybertruck.
Clearly, Rawlinson has an incentive to persuade traders and Wall Avenue analysts that Lucid is doing issues the good, proper means and all these opponents are lacking one thing. Furthermore, it would not precisely be straightforward to Lucid to interrupt into America’s cutthroat pickup market, which is essentially dominated by GM, Ford, Toyota and Stellantis. However the information assist his argument about EV pickup price. None of these choices talked about above are low-cost within the slightest, and which may be hurting their enchantment.
Ford
The Ford F-150 Lightning.
The Rivian R1T will run you $69,900 to start out, or not less than $76,900 if you would like over 300 miles of vary. The corporate expects total 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 satisfy the wants of American consumers? Drop a remark under and tell us what you assume.
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