American Tesla rival Lucid (LCID) -) has some big ambitions on its plate in the upcoming years.
Last month, the firm revealed the Gravity, an SUV accompaniment to the Air luxury sedan, but its CEO Peter Rawlinson said that it is focused primarily on something that can push the company deeper inside Elon Musk's radar.
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In an interview with British automotive authority Autocar, the Lucid CEO said that it is planning two mainstream models with a target price of "around $50,000" – right in the crosshairs of Tesla's (TSLA) -) sales leaders; the Model 3 compact sedan and the Model Y small crossover SUV.
“The mid-sized [line] is going to be overtly a Tesla competitor – Model 3, Model Y," Rawlinson told Autocar. "This is the first time I’ve ever said it: we’re going to compete in that market – high-volume family car."
Rawlinson, who led the development of the Tesla Model S flagship sedan during his tenure as Musk's chief engineer, boasted that his company has one distinct advantage over his former employer.
“And how can we compete? Because we’ve got the most advanced technology, which means we can go farther with less battery, and the battery is the most high-cost item of an electric car," said Rawlinson. "So if you can go a certain distance with less battery, you can make that car more cheaply than anyone else.”
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The CEO went on the record to say that said cars are already in development, and that the cars should be expected sooner than what was previously expected.
“I’ve formally stated mid-late decade, and that has been completely misquoted as the end of the decade – 2030. What I mean is ‘not 2025’," the Lucid CEO said. "It’s a few years away, but it’s close. It takes three and a half years to do a car, and we’ve started… and that wasn’t yesterday.”
Currently, Lucid solely offers the Air Sedan, which at its least expensive configuration - the Pure at $77,400, offers 410 miles of range. The Air Pure has been recognized by Car and Driver on the latest edition of its 10Best list.
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