Connect with us

News

Lucid looks to rain on Tesla’s Plaid Parade

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-elon-musk-vs-competition-strategic-timing/

Published

on

Lucid was testing its Tri-Motor variant of the Air, its first production vehicle, at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California last week, and some unconfirmed times of the run stated that it set a new record. The previous record was held by Tesla’s Plaid Model S in late 2019. While some may see it as simple competition between two electric car companies, the timing of Lucid’s testing seems to point toward one thing: the company is looking to downplay the rumored release of the Tesla Plaid Powertrain.

Luci took the Tri-Motor Air to Laguna Seca on Thursday, and video from The Kilowatts showed that the car was running spirited laps at an impressive pace. However, spirited can be used subjectively here, because it appeared the be more than just a causal testing run. Lucid was going after a record, and it beat Tesla’s most impressive car to date.

With a time of 1:33, which has not yet been confirmed by Laguna Seca officials, the Tri-Motor Air beat the Model S by 3.555 seconds, a considerable margin in racing terms.

However, the fact that Lucid beat Tesla’s record and purposely kept the Tri-Motor variant hidden during the company’s very public unveiling of the Air on September 9th seems to show Lucid had other intentions. They didn’t want just to beat Tesla. They wanted to spoil Tesla’s Plaid party, which was supposed to be a big deal.

Nevertheless, Tesla could unveil the Plaid Powertrain on Battery Day, and rumors suggest that it will do precisely that. But, if Lucid manages to release confirmed times of its Tri-Motor variant, it could make Tesla’s Tri-Motor Plaid announcement less memorable than initially anticipated.

A blue Tesla Model S Plaid unit with new aeros attacks the Nurburgring. (Photo: Stefan Baldauf/Auto Motor Uund Sport)

Tesla still has something that Lucid does not have: a car in production. The Plaid Model S is wider than the currently produced variants, it has more aerodynamic features, like a rear diffuser, and it has three motors, instead of the Dual Motor setup that Tesla uses presently.

Hypothetically, if Lucid were to release details on its feat at Laguna Seca on Monday, it would basically be an attempt to one-up Tesla ahead of Battery Day. Taking the attention off of Tesla ahead of what could be the biggest day in company history would be a move that could spell a significant rivalry. However, Tesla is no stranger to using competitors’ momentum against them. Just ask Rivian and Nikola.

Advertisement
-

Whatever Lucid decides to do as far as announcing the times of the Air is the complete choice of the company’s executives. However, Lucid should remember that, even though they have a higher range rating and better performance than Tesla, they are still a new company without a car in production. CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson knows that, as he once said that Lucid hasn’t accomplished anything until a vehicle is being rolled off of production lines.

If Lucid announces the record ahead of the 22nd, Battery Day could get even more interesting.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Elon Musk gives his most telling Tesla-SpaceX merger conversation yet

Elon Musk hinted a Tesla-SpaceX merger could be coming, and Wall Street is taking notice.

Published

on

By

Elon Musk gave his clearest signal yet that Tesla and SpaceX could eventually combine, telling the All-In Summit in Los Angeles that the two companies’ deepening collaboration makes the question worth asking. Sawyer Merritt first surfaced the highlight on X Tuesday.

Asked directly why Tesla and SpaceX remain separate given how closely they already work together, Musk told hosts at the summit: “Great question there. With all this collaboration, on so many levels, who can imagine what action one might take when there’s so much close collaboration in so many areas.” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who joined Musk on stage, added that SpaceX personnel have already moved into xAI to fill leadership and engineering gaps, saying the businesses are integrating “faster than I thought,” though “not fully integrated yet,”

The comments landed on top of merger speculation that has been building on Wall Street for months. JPMorgan has called a tie-up “strategically coherent on paper,” pointing to overlapping ambitions in AI, robotics, energy, transportation and space. Jefferies went further, estimating Musk could retain roughly 55.3 percent voting control in a deal structured without a premium, a scenario that would still leave room for Tesla shareholders to come out ahead. On Kalshi, traders now put the odds of a merger before 2028 at 66 percent.

Tesla’s stake in SpaceX, still under one percent, traces back to its earlier investment in xAI, which converted to SpaceX equity after SpaceX absorbed the AI company. The two are also jointly building Terafab, a chip facility in Austin meant to serve both Tesla’s AI computing needs and SpaceX’s satellite ambitions. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has stood by a 2027 merger timeline for months, and Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest recently floated a similar case, an idea Musk pushed back on directly at the time.

Another Tesla SpaceX merger prediction by ARK Invest has Elon Musk talking

Advertisement
-

The timing adds another layer. Tesla has scheduled an October 1 unveiling for its next generation Roadster at a venue near SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas test site, using the phrase “Go for launch” in its promotional material. Both stocks dipped roughly 2 percent Monday before recovering slightly in premarket trading Tuesday, with SpaceX shares up about 0.4 percent and Tesla essentially flat.

Musk stopped short of confirming anything is in motion. But unlike his past denials of a corporate restructuring, this response didn’t rule one out, and it came with Shotwell sitting next to him describing an integration that’s already underway.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla Roadster unveiling is getting hyped up by Elon Musk

Published

on

tesla roadster
Credit: Petersen Auto Museum

The Tesla Roadster unveiling is getting hyped up by the company’s CEO Elon Musk, who has been a big reason the product has such high expectations due to delayed timelines and a constant need to make it even more insane than before.

Tesla announced on September 12 that it would officially unveil the Roadster in Waco, Texas, on October 1, ending years of patience for fans and reservation holders who have waited for the all-electric supercar to enter production since 2017.

Musk has said that this event will be well worth the wait on several occasions, and last year on the Joe Rogan Experience, he said that there should be a closing chapter to supercars- the end of cars that aren’t focused on safety.

He said:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one. I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

Musk’s teases have continued, and now that the event is roughly two weeks away, it seems like Roadster is finally going to show up and blow some minds:

Advertisement
-

Tesla has definitely dragged out the development of the Roadster, but there is a good reason for it.

Tesla has been working on many other projects, most notably self-driving efforts to increase passenger safety, and those simply took priority over the Roadster, a low-volume, high-performance sports car that has a lightning-fast acceleration rate of 0-60 MPH in just 1.1 seconds, could potentially fly, and contributes very little to the company’s mission.

Advertisement
-

However, many people have the Roadster on pre-order through the referral program or with their own money, and it is time that Tesla delivers on that.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Boring Company has big plans for Las Vegas by year’s end

Elon Musk’s Boring Company says Vegas Loop stations will double by year end once again.

Published

on

By

the boring company's vegas loop entrance

The Boring Company says the Vegas Loop’s station count will double by the end of the year, tying the target to a hiring push for drivers and operations managers in Las Vegas. “Vegas Loop is getting bigger – the station count will double by end of year!” the company wrote in a post on X, attaching listings for a Loop driver and a senior Loop operations manager.

The number checks out against what’s already public, with the Vegas Loop currently running 14 operational stations, while the Boring Company’s own project page lists 28 as the target for the end of 2026.

Much of that growth is tied to tunnels that are already built and waiting on an opening date. A roughly two-mile dual tunnel system under Paradise Road, connecting Westgate to a planned station at 4744 Paradise Road, is expected to open in stages over the coming weeks, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority chief executive Steve Hill told the Review-Journal last week. New stations at 4744 Paradise, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and the former Gordon Biersch site would come online with it, several of them built to speed up rides to Harry Reid International Airport ahead of Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Clark County entitled Vegas Loop for 123 stations after approving 19 more in August, as Teslarati reported at the time. Entitlement and construction move at different speeds on this project, so county approval alone does not guarantee a station opens on any particular schedule.

Clark County approved 18 additional stations back in 2023, part of a plan that pushed the system’s target to 69 stations across 65 miles, doubling the network on paper for the first time. The target kept climbing after that, to roughly 93 stations by the end of that year and 104 by last year, before August’s vote pushed it to 123. This week’s announcement is the first time that doubling language has been attached to stations actually running rather than stations merely approved on a county map.

Ridership gives some sense of what a denser network could carry. Boring Company executive Mike Baier said in July that the Vegas Loop already moves around 40,000 passengers on busy convention days, a total that tops most light rail systems in the country despite the system running on a fraction of its planned tunnel mileage. Company leadership has projected ridership could triple or quadruple once the airport connector tunnels fully open.

Advertisement
-

Boring Company did not say which stations beyond those already under construction would open by year end, or whether the hiring push points to a fleet expansion alongside the new stops.

Continue Reading