- Lucid's paint shop could fit an electric truck, but the CEO said it wasn't possible
- A Lucid executive said there is no business case for an electric truck with today's technology
- The issue with electric trucks is efficiency and usability, according to Lucid's CEO
Consumers who hope that Lucid will create a A van that focuses on efficiency they are about to be left out in the cold.
On Tuesday at Lucid's productivity and technology day, founder and CEO Peter Rawlinson said “I don't want Lucid to start thinking about the van.”
The problems surrounding Rawlinson's electric truck range from all sides performance, battery sizeand business case.
Rawlinson's track on the electric truck has changed. In 2020 the CEO told Green Car Reports “if we want to do a long car like a van or something like that, what we would want to do in the future is a paint shop future proof to take.” At the time Rawlinson said Lucid wasn't planning a van, at least not yet, but it was an idea the team was considering.
That idea passed as evidenced by Rawlinson's comments on Tuesday. At least without major technological breakthroughs.
Rawlinson said, “I think it's very difficult to make an electric van work today.”
The biggest problems with making an electric truck work is that it is “it is practical and expensive,” Rawlinson said.
Rawlinson noted that towing is not an efficient, towing-admitted task for truck owners and negatively affects driving range. That means the bigger the batteries, the higher the costs and prices.
To achieve a van of 300 miles Rawlinson said it will take a 120-kwh battery, but that is not enough to pull it. “I think the minimum limit to take a usable van is about 150 kilowatt hours,” the CEO said. The Lucid Air Sedan in base Pure trim has an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles using an 84-kwh battery pack.
Rawlinson said, “Now, how on Earth are you going to do that for about $50, $55, $60,000 and make a business case?”
Rawlinson focused on getting the most mileage out of a small battery pack. Efficiency is the name of the game. The CEO said in August that it would take years to succeed. Lucid sells the the best performance car on sale today in the US with the Air, achieving 5.0 miles per kwh and 146 MPGE in EPA testing.
During the production and technology event Lucid teased again upcoming midsize electric SUV. The automaker said its rival Tesla Model Y will arrive in late 2026 and cost less than $50,000. Lucid said the undisclosed vehicle will have the same range as rivals with smaller batteries.
Lucid is currently focused on emergency production of the electric Gravity SUV. Pre-production units are rolling off the line and customer deliveries should begin later this year. Gravity will get a Tesla NACS charging port in 2025, according to Lucid.