Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF wants to invest in Lucid Motors, an American company that wants to compete with electric car manufacturer Tesla. What kind of company is Lucid Motors and what does the manufacturer want to capture the market with?
Reuters reports, based on anonymous sources, that Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF is in negotiations with Lucid Motors over an investment. Interestingly, PIF was also recently named by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as one of the investors said to be involved in Tesla's delisting. This move would cost around $72 billion.
Over a billion dollars
Reuters sources report that PIV wants to put more than a billion dollars into Lucid Motors. This would give the investment fund a majority stake in the US company. Initially, the company would like to invest $500 million. The remaining $500 million will be invested in two phases if Lucid Motors manages to meet certain production milestones. The deal is not yet finalised, by the way; sources stress that the deal could still fall through.
Lucid Motors is a company founded in 2007 and based in Newark, California. The company previously went by the name Atieva and was founded on Bernard Tse and Sam Weng. Former Mazda design chief Derek Jensen is involved with the company as vice president of design, while Peter Rawlinson has been appointed chief technology officer (CTO). Rawlinson was previously involved in the development of the Tesla Model S as chief engineer.
Top speed of 378 kilometres per hour
The company, as mentioned, wants to compete with electric car manufacturer Tesla. Lucid Motors has already presented a prototype: the Lucid Air Alpha Speed. This is a fully electric sports car that managed to reach a (software-limited) top speed of 350 kilometres per hour at a test track in US Ohio in April 2017. In July 2017, this software-limited limitation was removed and the vehicle reached a top speed of 378 kilometres per hour.
Announcing this achievement, Lucid Motors pointed to the fuel consumption of the hybrid Ferrari LaFerrari, which consumes 16.8 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (14 miles per gallon). Lucid Motors states that the Lucid Air Alpha Speed is expected to consume only 2.35 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres. This statement suggests that Lucid Motors wants its Lucid Air Alpha Speed to compete with such sports cars, also known as supercars. A video about the vehicle's design also compares the Lucid Air's dimensions to those of a BMW 750 Li and a Mercedes S550L. Lucid Motors reports that the Lucid Air has smaller exterior dimensions than these vehicles, but offers more interior space.
Inspired private plane
This is possible, according to CTO Rawlinson, thanks to the vehicle's electric powertrain. It takes up much less space than a traditional internal combustion engine and powertrain. As a result, an electric vehicle can offer much more interior space than a traditional vehicle. Lucid Motors plans to use this extra space to provide a very luxurious travel experience for users. Rawlinson reports that the design of the Lucid Air is largely inspired by that of a private plane.
Available in two versions
The Lucid Air will be Lucid Motors' first model. The vehicle can now be ordered and is expected to be available from 2019. The Lucid Air will be available in two versions. One is a base version with a single electric motor, 400hp of power and rear-wheel drive. In addition, a more powerful version will be available with two electric motors and all-wheel drive. The power output of this variant is not known. The base model has a range of around 385 kilometres, while the more powerful model should be able to travel almost 650 kilometres on a single battery charge.
In time, the Lucid Air should be able to drive autonomously. The vehicle comes standard with all the hardware needed for this. However, the functionality will only be rolled out via software updates at a later stage. When the Lucid Air will be able to drive autonomously has not been disclosed.
Further details about the Lucid Air concept vehicle are not known. It is also not clear when we can expect a Lucid Motors car in shops. More information can be found at lucidmotors.com.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Lucid Motors (pictured)
Source: Reuters
