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Lucid CEO shares take on next-gen EVs: “The electric car of the future only needs 250 miles”

Credit: Lucid Group

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Lucid Motors made it a point to go above and beyond the industry standard when it released the Air, its first vehicle. With a range of over 500 miles, the Air was a strong statement from the EV maker. It entered the electric luxury sedan market late, but its range alone showed that it was a serious contender. 

While the Lucid Air is not selling as strongly as its rivals like the Porsche Taycan and the Tesla Model S, the luxury electric vehicle maker is nonetheless optimistic about its potential. Just recently, Lucid and Aston Martin signed a deal that would see the American automaker supply powertrain components to the British sports car company. The Lucid Air also continues to earn accolades, including the 2023 World Car Luxury Car of the Year award

Amidst these efforts, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson highlighted in a conversation with Auto Express UK that Lucid has developed into a group with three pillars. One pillar corresponds to the company’s vehicles like the Lucid Air and the upcoming Gravity SUV; another pillar corresponds to the company’s energy storage business; and the last corresponds to technology licensing transfer supply. It is this third pillar that Rawlinson sees quite a lot of potential, noting that he is hoping that Lucid could become the EV equivalent of Intel. 

“We are limited by the number of cars we can make and sell for our technology. I want to have a big impact upon the planet – we’re worried about global warming. I want to get more people into electric cars sooner and it’s important that we use a multiplier effect that other people can be making cars with our technology. There’s a great example in Intel. There’s an Intel inside logo on many computers, and it’d be lovely to see ‘Lucid Inside’ on cars, too,” Rawlinson. 

And while Rawlinson noted that Lucid plans to eventually offer vehicles that are cheaper — likely in the $50,000 range and thereby being competitors to the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y — the company is looking to provide innovations for even mainstream cars in the future. In a rather interesting statement, Rawlinson stated that the electric vehicle of the future only really needs 250 miles, and with Lucid’s technology, such a range should be achieved with a fairly small battery pack. 

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“The biggest impact on the mass market car will be with smaller battery packs. My vision is could we get to six miles per kilowatt-hour? We’re at 4.6 now. Could we get to six miles per kilowatt-hour with a fast-charging infrastructure, with overnight charging? The electric car of the future only needs 250 miles. We don’t need 500-mile cars in the future, 10 years from now.

“If we could get six miles per kilowatt-hour and you only need 150 miles range, that’s a 25 kilowatt-hour pack. That’s a $4,000 pack particularly with a bit of industrializing scale and battery manufacture. That’s what we need to make a $25,000 car and that’s what the environment and the world needs urgently to get masses into electric cars. You need the $25,000 car. Now is Lucid going to make that? No. It’s a horrible thing to be making. But could we be the ‘intel inside’ for that car? The enabler? Absolutely. And that’s where we could get the multiplier effect,” Rawlinson said. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla deploys Unsupervised FSD in Europe for the first time—with a twist

Europe has so far been elusive for Tesla’s FSD rollout.

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Credit: Tesla AI/X

Tesla has officially started using Unsupervised FSD in Europe, at least, within the Giga Berlin complex.

Ready for rollout

As per a video from the Tesla AI team, Model Y units that are produced at Giga Berlin now autonomously transport themselves from the end of the production line to their designated holding areas. The video demonstration, which was posted on X, followed a Model Y unit that parked itself autonomously at a charging station, and another that headed straight to Giga Berlin’s outbound area.

Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig shared his insights on the video, stating that “Every Tesla we built has the ability to drive autonomously and we use this feature 100% for outbound operations, starting from the light tunnel until the car arrives at the outbound yard! Really impressive!” He also stated that he “cannot wait to see this on European roads outside the factory.”

Unsupervised FSD in Europe

Europe has so far been elusive for Tesla’s FSD rollout. While FSD Supervised has been rolled out to consumers in the United States, and to some degree, in China, only tests have so far been implemented in Europe. This has resulted in numerous Tesla owners getting their patience tested, especially those who have purchased FSD in vehicles that are now several years old.

Tesla, for its part, has been demonstrating Unsupervised FSD operating on public European roads across several countries, such as France and Germany. So far, however, the wait is still on for Europe to allow FSD, both Supervised and Unsupervised, to be operated by regular consumers on public roads.

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Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch

Tesla officially announced on early Thursday morning that its Robotaxi suite is officially public, launching its separate Robotaxi app to iOS users for the first time, allowing them to test out the driverless ride-hailing platform.

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Tesla has made a major expansion with its Robotaxi platform, marking its official public launch of the app for iOS users.

Tesla has had an active Robotaxi program for two and a half months now, launching it for the first time in Austin, Texas, in late June.

It was not a public beta, as the company extended invitations to a select group of relevant influencers and media in the space, aiming to keep things relatively private until confidence in its performance was established.

Over the past ten weeks, Tesla has expanded its fleet size, its geofence, and its list of invitees on several occasions. However, it was still not offering rides to anyone on the street. That has changed.

Tesla officially announced on early Thursday morning that its Robotaxi suite is officially public, launching its separate Robotaxi app to iOS users for the first time, allowing them to test out the driverless ride-hailing platform:

Once you download the app, you will be put on a waitlist to enter the company’s list of riders. It seems that the earlier you download and join, the sooner you will be able to test one of the company’s driverless Model Y vehicles in the city.

The expansion of the app marks a major achievement for Tesla in the sense that the company is confident to begin allowing more riders to utilize the platform. It may also be looking for a more local consumer base, as many users of the app do not reside in Austin. Tesla may hope to attract more daily users who would utilize Robotaxi for their commute to work, rides to dinner and social events, and other regular uses.

In its nearly three months of operation, Tesla has expanded the Robotaxi geofence in Austin on three occasions, with the most recent bringing the Service Area to 190 square miles.

Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise

The most recent growth included new territories, including Giga Texas, the company’s manufacturing facility, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and freeway driving for the first time.

Freeways are where Tesla has taken a slightly different approach, as it will be moving the safety monitor to the driver’s seat for those trips for the time being.

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Tesla’s next-gen Optimus prototype with Grok revealed

The video shows a new Optimus prototype answering questions and taking some very robotic steps, evidently revealing that the next-generation version is in its early stages of development.

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Tesla’s next-generation Optimus robot with AI assistant Grok has been revealed in a new video shared on X.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff last night, and it appears the frontman gave Benioff an exclusive look at some upcoming technology.

Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm

The video shows a new Optimus prototype answering questions and taking some very robotic steps, evidently revealing that the next-generation version is in its early stages of development. It features Grok for some additional utility, as it answered questions Benioff asked in the short video.

Here’s what was uploaded to X:

It appears that there are several big changes to this next-generation version of Optimus, some of which have been discussed by Musk and Tesla in the past.

The first is purely cosmetic, but the gold color that Optimus is wearing in this is a new and fresh look that we have not seen before.

Perhaps the most interesting change that is evident here is the hands, which are much more detailed than past versions of Optimus:

However, we’re not too sure that these are what will be released with the next-gen Optimus, because they don’t appear to be functional, and they are more reminiscent of mannequin hands than anything.

The hands on Optimus have been a significant part of the program, as they are among the most crucial pieces of equipment on a robot. It needs to be able to perform both delicate and more imposing tasks. Tesla has aimed for Optimus to be able to thread needles or play the piano.

It was one of the most discussed improvements the company mentioned in past comments regarding how it planned to improve from Gen 2 to this next version.

Musk mentioned regarding Optimus:

“Next-generation Optimus hand, which we have in prototype form, has actuators that have moved to the forearm, just like humans, and they operate the fingers through cables, just like human hands.”

Within Optimus lies a significant opportunity for Tesla to gain considerable strength in terms of market share and valuation.

If Tesla can efficiently develop and deploy the humanoid robot over the next several years, the company stands to gain, as companies will utilize it for tasks that require tedious labor.

Musk recently said Optimus will be a major contributor to Tesla’s valuation moving forward. He believes it will make up roughly 80 percent of the company’s value.

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