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Lucid: The electric car manufacturer from California wants to overtake Tesla.
In spring Lucid wants to achieve the breakthrough with the "Lucid Air"
In spring it should finally be ready.
Then, with the new Lucid Air, the hopeful model of the US electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors will hit the streets - Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson naturally wants to offer a "new level" of electric mobility at a price of 170,000 US dollars.
The announcements could be dismissed as the usual roar of the self-proclaimed Tesla hunters - if the 63-year-old Welshman were not a specialist: Around ten years ago, Rawlinson, as chief engineer, played a key role in developing Tesla's first successful model, the Model S - and has now decided to become head of the 2007 im Californian Newark founded Lucid Motors to overtake the eternal role model Tesla.
And that works, of course, only with the "best car in the world".
"Nobody believes me, but we are taking electric mobility to a new level," explains Rawlinson in an interview with US business magazine "Forbes".
In 2012, it was the same feeling when Tesla's Model S took the world by storm: At first, the competition thought Tesla boss Elon Musk and his chief engineer Rawlinson were weirdos who shouldn't be considered - the rest is well known.
"It's the same feeling with the Lucid Air as it was back then with the Model S," says Rawlinson - making the best possible use of his career at the time.
But according to Forbes, Rawlinson also has a few impressive facts ready for the Lucid Air to offer in the spring.
A range of 517 miles after a full charge - more than Tesla's Model S. A shorter charging time than Tesla - and an acceleration from 0 to 60 miles in around 2 seconds.
Update announced: Musk takes the Lucid Air seriously
Tesla's latest model announcement shows that Tesla boss Elon Musk takes the Lucid Air seriously as a competitor model: A further developed "Plaid +" Model S, which is due to be presented at the end of the year, should achieve even better acceleration and the car's range of 520 miles Musk recently reassured.
Rawlinson does not have the goal of pushing another expensive premium model into the market for wealthy electric car fans.
The technology of the 1080 PS strong Lucid Air should serve in the long term to develop affordable electric mass models at a price between 25,000 and 40,000 US dollars in the medium term.
Rawlinson's ex-boss Elon Musk is pursuing the same goal with the Model 3. According to Rawlinson, the mass models of Lucid are to be built in Saudi Arabia, of all places - the oil state that will soon be dependent on business models other than oil.
The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund is already the largest shareholder in Lucid Motors with 66 percent of the shares.
Rawlinson is planning big, and he is speaking to the expectations of his shareholders.
Lucid Motors wants to sell a million cars a year in a few years - it is not about niche models.
That also sounds suspiciously like Tesla 2. Lucid CEO Rawlinson has already mastered the rhetoric of his ex-boss Musk quite well: "We're not a small niche player," he emphasizes.
It is no coincidence that Lucid has settled in Tesla's neighborhood.
The electrification of the global automotive industry, increasing political pressure, the global triumph of electric cars - Lucid boss Elon Musk does not want to leave Musk alone on this path.
la / mmo
