Lucid Motors is a new player at electric cars market aiming to challenge the biggest luxury auto brands. Passport to Wall Street had a chance to talk with David Salguero, Marketing Manager for Lucid Motors, about the company and its first model - Lucid Air.
-- You can learn more about Lucid Motors by reading our article entitled Lucid Air - a new electric car is in the air --
PWS: What is Lucid Motors' mission?
David Salguero, Lucid Motors: To become the global leader in advanced electric vehicles and to accelerate sustainable mobility
PWS: Who is standing behind Lucid Motors?
David Salguero: Lucid is an independent California company. We have investors from all over the world, including the USA, Japan and China. There are no majority shareholders.
PWS: During New York Auto show Lucid presented its luxury sedan - Lucid Air. At first glance it is quite similar to Tesla Model S e.g. it's also a high-tech luxury sedan with very good acceleration, ca 300 miles range in a medium version, futuristic design, autonomous ready and priced at similar level. Why should I order Lucid Air instead of Tesla Model S?
David Salguero: Tesla
PWS: Lucid Air has all hardware necessary for autonomous driving and autonomous driving at level 3 and 4 will be deployed when regulation and software will allow it. Do you develop your own software or will you use software produced by an external supplier?
David Salguero: The Air will use an overlay of radar, camera and LIDAR for its autonomous drive capabilities. The three technical aspects of making autonomous driving work are: hardware, software and data. Lucid will take the lead on the hardware platform (the car, sensors and the integration of that suite). Software we will partner on, as this would be a substantial undertaking that could pull focus from getting the car to production. The third thing is big data, which Lucid will take the lead on.
PWS: Lucid Air is going to have 4 screens inside. What will be their function?
David Salguero: Our user experience vision is 'Maximum Capability, Minimum Effort.' To this end, our screen array has been architected to be flexible for both manual and autonomous driving. Also, having multiple screens allows us to spread out the interface, achieving a minimal, organized appearance while reducing the number of steps required to access different vehicle functions.
The upper 3 screen array is driver-facing, with good line-of-sight. Content has been carefully considered to be contextually relevant to the task of driving. Advanced infotainment features such as phone calls, media playback and voice control, will have selective exposure in a way that maximizes ease of use.
The lower, retractable tablet display is tailored for deeper functionality such as a full map, contacts lists, and apps. This screen requires looking down from the road a bit further, but provides a generous touch surface that's easy to reach, making it ideal for more complex tasks when the vehicle is parked or in an autonomous driving state.
We will maximize utility of all screens for each context, but in general, they each have an optimal role that they're best suited for, and working in concert, hopefully creates a fluid, empowering experience.
PWS: How much time will it take to fully charge Lucid Air's battery? Do you plan to introduce a solution for super-fast charging like Tesla's Supercharger? What is the expected life-cycle of a Lucid Air's battery?
David Salguero: The car is capable of charge rates of 150kW, which will allow customers to get 200 miles of charge in about 25 minutes. We will not develop our own network of chargers. There are many companies deploying chargers across America, and the network will be substantial by our 2019 launch.
PWS: The next step after launching Lucid Air in USA will be Europe and Chine. One of Lucid's investors is Chinese Tsing Capital. Do you think it can make it easier for you when entering China?
David Salguero: Right now we are laser focused on launching the Lucid Air in USA. While Europe and China will come at a later date, we have not disclosed our plans or timelines yet.
PWS: Lucid Air sedan will be available in executive seating version. Was it, like for example Volvo S90 Excellence, made with focus on Chinese customers, who quite often travel on the rear seat?
David Salguero: We are focused on the US market at this time, but we do believe that our executive rear seating package will be well received in China when Lucid does eventually launch there.
PWS: Lucid Motors describes itself as a luxury brand. Do you plan to introduce other models e.g. SUV or Sport-wagon? Can we expect a more affordable Lucid car?
David Salguero: We will introduce new models in the future, but at this time we are laser focused on getting the Lucid Air to production.
PWS: Thank you for your time.
