Lucid Is Years Ahead Of Competitors. Its CEO Just Showed How Much

The Lucid boss posted a graph illustrating how much it leads the pack in terms of EV efficiency.

2024 Lucid Air Pure RWD

Photo by: Lucid Motors

Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

Aug 12, 2024 at 6:32am ET

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Lucid makes some of the most efficient electric vehicles currently available, and this was achieved by combining several innovations that its competitors don’t have access to. The California-based EV manufacturer developed and made all of the key components in-house as opposed to outsourcing development to third parties, which is what some automakers have done often with mixed results.

In the company's quest to constantly improve the efficiency of its vehicles, it recently announced that the Air Pure, the most efficient and affordable version of the Air sedan, achieved 5 miles per kilowatt-hour, equivalent to 146 MPGe. Following the announcement, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson posted a graph on LinkedIn showing just how far this puts the Air ahead of its main electric sedan rivals, the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan and Mercedes-Benz EQS.

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Lucid is all about efficiency

Constantly improving the efficiency of its vehicles is one of Lucid's top priorities, and it really when the Air Pure officially hit 5 miles per kWh, putting it way ahead of any similar-size rival electric sedan. The manufacturer expects to stay ahead of competitors over the next decade too.

The graph used the most efficient variants of the three rival electric sedans. Rawlinson concluded Lucid was so far ahead that it would take years for rivals to catch up if current trends were maintained. He went on to say that “Efficiency is of critical importance in making a better, lighter, more spacious, longer-range vehicle, and directly impacts cost to manufacture. Therefore, efficiency is arguably the single most valid litmus of a company’s core EV technological capability.”

According to the graph, the second-best when it comes to efficiency is the Tesla Model S, and based on the current trend, it would be able to match the Lucid Air Pure’s current efficiency eight years from now, in 2032.

Of course, the real world isn't that simple. Efficiency improvements aren't the result of lines on a graph, but hard, expensive work, along with trim structure changes. Much of Lucid's improvement since the Air's launch, for instance, has come from launching cheaper, smaller-battery versions like the Pure that are lighter and more efficient. Tesla, meanwhile, could make a huge leap by redesigning the Model S with an 800-volt-class architecture and a new platform. And despite the EQS getting a bit less efficient last year, it's absurd to extrapolate forward and assume Mercedes is somehow getting worse at designing efficient EVs.

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Frankly, it's remarkable that the Model S is as close as it is. It doesn’t have Lucid’s 900-volt electrical architecture or even an 800-volt platform like the Porsche Taycan. The latter is quite a long way behind the Air on Rawlinson’s graph. It’s not even as efficient as the 400-volt Mercedes EQS sedan, likely because of Porsche's focus on performance.

Peter Rawlinson has been making a lot of public comments in the last few months highlighting the areas where Lucid is ahead of the pack and how confident he is of the brand’s success. He’s also criticized Tesla and its CEO on several occasions, pointed out Chinese automakers’ shortcomings and announced the firm’s plans to go mainstream with the launch of a midsize sedan and a crossover. Until then, the company is focusing on starting production of the Gravity, which, according to Rawlinson, will be the best SUV in the world.