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Morgan Stanley‘s 12th Annual Laguna Conference 2024

Sep 12, 2024

Speaker 2

Okay, I'm delighted to have Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of Lucid. Thank you for joining us. We have Maynard and Gagan also in the audience to help answer your questions and throughout the day in their meetings. I spent most of the morning, well, a good chunk of the morning, with you on Tuesday in Casa Grande. I pronounce it Casa Grande. Everyone else there calls it Casa Grande, but I don't know.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Hm-mmm.

Speaker 2

What do you call it?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I've learned to say it like the locals do.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Casa Grande.

Speaker 2

Yeah, Casa Grande.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I think it is an aberration.

Speaker 2

It's okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I think Spanish is correct.

Speaker 2

It's okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

You're very correct. Yeah.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

I'm such a linguist.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

But, I mean, the plant is immaculate. You can literally eat off the floor.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

It's got hundreds of beautiful robots, a super modern paint factory.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm.

Speaker 2

Amazing technology. You spent a lot of time showing off the powertrain technology.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And how electricity is distributed and moved around the car and powers the vehicle.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

You emphasize the software. It really was a kind of tour de force of the technology that you bring.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2

To the table.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2

And, you know, you don't win awards like you've won without having real, real stuff. You clearly do. But I kinda like to think that the, you know, the technology kinda gets you into the, you know, across the velvet rope, maybe into the club.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

But to get to the VIP room you gotta get your costs down.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes. Indeed.

Speaker 2

You made... I think you and your team have also emphasized that as well. So, obviously, the volume is, what? 9,000 units? You know, you're smaller than Ferrari in terms of unit volume right now, and you got a plant that's built for a hell of a lot more than that. So walk us through some of the key messages, and as we kinda go from Air to Gravity.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

To midsize.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Kinda that journey.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. You're quite right. So the plant is in the process of being built out to 90,000- unit capacity.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Will be very soon. And, we've indicated we intend to build 9,000 Lucid Air this year. You're absolutely right. So, our trajectory is all, and our costs and our finance are dominated by long-term investments for the future. You saw that with a degree of automation, technology, and process technology, robots and vertical integration, both of stamping right through to Wunderbox electronics line, making our own electric motors, and the battery pack we're famous for. So all of that, but we've really got a four-step process for growth. First of all, we need to improve our brand awareness to grow our sales of Lucid Air, and that's coming on nicely. We've just come off the back of a record Q1.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And a record Q2, and we're heading very nicely, and very pleased with the way Q3 is going. We actually outsold 2023, 2023 numbers by the end of August this year. So that's going well, and it takes time to build a brand, so that's going nicely. The second step, of course, is getting the Gravity SUV, Lucid Gravity SUV into production. That's scheduled for start of production late this year.

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And we'll hopefully be able to make an announcement about that in more detail very soon, so watch this space.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Then we've got the really big one, which is the midsize platform coming in, and that's scheduled for production late 2026. And to that aim, we're currently building out a plant, another plant on the other side of the world, in Saudi Arabia, with a capacity, an installed capacity of 150,000 units.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We've laid the foundations for that. We're currently in the process of erecting steel. So that's where midsize platform variant will go. We're also gonna put a variant into Casa Grande in Arizona as well.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And then, beyond that. And that will give us some serious scale. I mean, the vision is, I want us to be making about a million cars a year in the early 2030s, 2031, 2032, somewhere around there. And midsize will enable us to do that, I believe.

Speaker 2

Hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

A t a price point of about $48,000-$50,000.

Speaker 2

What are your benchmarks for that?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That's unashamedly Tesla Model Y, Model 3.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm.

Speaker 2

Do you have Chinese benchmarks for that? And would that million envision a Chinese contribution.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Uh.

Speaker 2

Or more of an independent of China?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That's yet to be determined.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We recognize that is the big prize in terms of market, but the competition there in that marketplace is absolutely brutal within China.

Speaker 2

So again, going back to cost, from the steps from Air to Gravity, midsize, you're making enormous reductions of bill of material cost.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Indeed. Indeed.

Speaker 2

Aside from volume-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

How do we think about that journey? Let's say, I mean, I don't know, I'm just thinking-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm.

Speaker 2

Your BOM costs will be going something like from maybe $150,000 a unit thereabout to, well, obviously, well below $50,000 if you wanna be profitable.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

How do you take $100,000 out?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 2

Of an Air into a.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Right.

Speaker 2

Gravity, for example?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Right. So there's the easy bit, and there's the tough bit. And so the easy bit is what everyone does, which is just building a car with four wheels on. And I think there's almost too much emphasis put on that an EV is so different from a gasoline counterpart in that respect. I mean, clearly, we've got a software-enabled product. That's what our car is.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

But, you know, they've got four doors, and they've got four wheels, and they've got four seats, and whether they've got a steering wheel or not is another matter. But, that-

Speaker 2

I'll take you over on steering wheel.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, right. Let's assume that for the time being.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

To start, I mean, that's ostensibly the easy bit, building a car. Where our secret sauce and our superpower is the cost of the powertrain because we've got a technological edge, which we can convert to a commercial edge. Because the cost of, particularly when you go to a family car, the cost of the bill of materials, that's all the parts to build that car with, is dominated by one thing, and that's the battery pack cost.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Over 40% of that BOM, bill of material, cost for a family vehicle is battery pack. And there's really no internal combustion engine equivalent for one single item having-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... so much contribution. And that's where our tech really plays its role, that we can go further with less batteries, and that means considerably less cost. And that's where our tech is a cost enabler. That's why we're doing that. That's why we built this company, to really push down the cost and attainability of EVs. Paradoxically, whilst we're in a luxury space at this moment in time.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean, again, your the tech advantage is clear. You're one of the most efficient EVs or in many metrics, the most efficient.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We are, yeah.

Speaker 2

4.7 mi /kWh , and I think you've touched 5 in some of the versions.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes. Pure is now 4.74, and we recently announced 5.0.

Speaker 2

Okay, so just at a high level, you'd think that kind of innovation catalyst of trying to, like, solve for battery technology-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

... that gets you there, and in addition to the Air-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

... and then the other design features.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2

That can leverage into a cost advantage because you can have smaller-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Totally.

Speaker 2

... smaller batteries.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Totally, totally, totally.

Speaker 2

Would that be really small? So then, are we then going to see the number of kilowatts in the vehicle-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Reduced?

Speaker 2

... reduced or?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Not only are we going to, we are already.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Because our entry level, the one that's super efficient, with 5 mi/kWh , the Air Pure rear wheel drive, it's 410 mi. This is in production today, 420 mi range. So it's got more range than any competitor, and it's doing that with an 84-kWh pack, which is very, very small for the class of vehicle it's in. Take Mercedes-Benz, the EQS, it's 108 kWh . Much bigger and significantly less range.

Speaker 2

So you think you can have a cheaper battery than a Model Y?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Oh, yes. Yeah, and so I mean my view of the car of the future is with a more mature infrastructure for charging-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... cell chemistry, which is more accommodating in terms of charge rate and charge cycle time. You could see, if we could get to the holy grail of, say, 6 mi/kWh -

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... you could have a 240 mi range car-

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... with just a 40-kWh pack. Just a 40 times the six-

Speaker 2

40.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... and gets you to 240. And then that's a tiny thing, and that really opens up a whole raft of opportunities for building an affordable car. Just the size of that thing, it would fit underneath the front seats. Much lighter, so you wouldn't need big brakes. All the suspension links could be smaller. Everything gets more cost effective.

Speaker 2

EVs are way too heavy.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

The EV, EVs are way too heavy right now, right? I think you're gonna look back and-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That's the problem. Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. It pains me.

Speaker 2

Yeah, especially with your-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... your racing background-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... and pedigree with Lotus and stuff, I mean-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... you know. Anyone driven a Lotus, by the way? Do you own a Lotus right now?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes, I do.

Speaker 2

Yeah, they're pretty fun.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I've had one since I was 21.

Speaker 2

Okay. You're the same one. Yeah. That's awesome. You're living the dream. Chinese EVs.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Peter, are they any good?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I think they're amazing. I think they've come on leaps and bounds. It's quite shocking. I was looking at some very, very recently, and they're right up there. Shocking cost effectiveness. I don't think they're there technologically in terms of their core EV competence yet. Where they're really great is user interface, and certainly, if you look at some of the ADAS features and the ADAS visualization, you know, with the mapping they've got, the daily mapping systems, 3D visualization, and the fusion of 3D maps with surround-view awareness, situational awareness of the vehicle within its sensors.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

So you fuse this world of maps, overlay it, and you put the car in that map. It's absolutely awesome.

Speaker 2

So again, maybe when you're at the price points you're at now with Air, perhaps the Chinese are not the most relevant benchmark, which is why you like to show earlier this week, for example, the Germans and some of the-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... Tesla vehicles. But as the price points come down-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... I think it's fair to assume that the Chinese benchmarks become more relevant to you.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Oh, totally, totally, as they get better as well.

Speaker 2

So which companies and or models would you say are in that kind of forward benchmark as you-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Well, I mean-

Speaker 2

... midsize?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... there's NIO, there's Xiaomi, there's BYD, there's a whole bunch of them, and there's a whole bunch that I keep learning about that I didn't know.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... existed before.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Even I can't keep up.

Speaker 2

All right. Let's move to the licensing opportunity.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

Aston Martin.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Kind of, any other discussions or other opportunities that, you know-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

There are.

Speaker 2

... you can talk about?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

There are. And really, Aston opened the door for discussions with other automakers. And I've long said that's part of our business plan, but really is the icing on the cake, because you can never tell. It's-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... the decision becomes a third party's decision. But, I think that as time progresses, there will be many traditional car companies who recognize the inexorable road to pure battery electric.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And they're gonna miss out, unless we could offer them a real lifeline.

Speaker 2

Gravity, start of production, later this year.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

Maybe an update soon.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes, indeed.

Speaker 2

But, you know, I don't know how. Remind us how much overlap there is between Air and Gravity?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Well-

Speaker 2

I know there's a lot of vertical integration.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm, mm.

Speaker 2

... too, so but there's always some new suppliers and,

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... systems .

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, so, in some areas, there's a high degree of overlap and economy of scale, in others, not. So we decided to go for a completely new platform to make it a proper SUV.

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That's why we're not gonna... We have too much product overlap, minimize cannibalization-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... from Air to Gravity.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Key, really true product differentiation.

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That was important. But, with things like the powertrain, there's a lot of carryover. The motors are very, very similar. A lot of the software is very similar. Battery pack, about 95% the same. Module's the same. Subtle changes to architecture. Little things like gear ratios in the drive units. The wheels are a little bit bigger. We want more off-road tractability, so they have slightly lower gear.

Speaker 2

So 900 V?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, 924 V. Yeah.

Speaker 2

924 V.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Uh-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Highest voltage I'm aware of in the marketplace.

Speaker 2

That's, that's my understanding as well, Peter.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Remind us then, the price points.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Talking about-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Actually, people are surprised. Air is now available from $69,900.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

A pledge I made four years ago, in fact, and we've honored that. We envisage Gravity being from a price point just below $80,000 at some stage. I'm not saying we will launch with that variant, of course.

Speaker 2

Okay. We'll launch higher than-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Uh-

Speaker 2

You said 80...

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Our launch vehicle is highly likely not to be that entry level vehicle.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I believe.

Speaker 2

I'm just throwing this out there, kind of like what Rivian R1S is right now.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... R1S is in that 90-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

... low 90s kind of thing. R1S, R1S is, you know, their volume is fairly, fairly modest.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

Certainly, you know-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... well, under 50,000 a year.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

I don't know if that was a benchmark here, and again, you offer features and things that are very different, but I'm just thinking through the eyes of the consumer-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm. Yeah.

Speaker 2

... 'cause there's not a lot of choice for electric, you know, multi-passenger vehicles. This is, in this case, you know, seven- seat type-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... vehicle.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So who would it be unfair to say that the R1S and even maybe the Kia EV9?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

EV9? Yes. And-

Speaker 2

Is it unfair comp?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No, no, I think these are interesting bookends. I mean, we put an array of competitive vehicles on display-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... when you were present on Tuesday.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I saw them.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That lineup comprised the Porsche Cayenne, which we think is a great benchmark for ride and handling.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Although that's a two-row. There's the BMW iX, the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... and the Rivian R1S. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

I mean, I'm watching that EV9, which was not there.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No.

Speaker 2

... but that's selling kind of 3,000 . Again, the first year in the states, about 3,000 a month.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

Customers seem to love it.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm.

Speaker 2

I'm just thinking, what kind of volume at that price point or, you know, how are you thinking about -

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Well, well-

Speaker 2

... bookending the volume?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Well, I mean, EV9-

Speaker 2

You do have a large plant there.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

EV9 can creep up into the, close to around $70,000-

Speaker 2

It can.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... mark.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I believe.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That then is not that cheap a car.

Speaker 2

Right.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I think our offering is far superior. We expect it to be.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We've got a much roomier, more efficient and practical interior, and much more luxurious.

Speaker 2

Just my read-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... but it really feels like the Gravity is the step to the new platform, but then the kind of launchpad to midsize-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm, mm.

Speaker 2

... I think to really-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm, mm.

Speaker 2

... to really fulfill-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... the volume ambitions.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. So-

Speaker 2

Is that wrong?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No, I think that's... Absolutely, it's a big step in our volume.

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We're looking at a total addressable market about six times that of Air, we believe. And I think that the key with Gravity is, I think it's gonna be an absolute landmark, seminal product. It's got revolutionary packaging.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And that's only enabled by our advanced technology. By miniaturizing the drive units and making things super efficient, we've got far less batteries there. We've got about 120 kWh or so of battery. Some of the competition is literally double that.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

So we've got a much better people package. Actually, inside the vehicle, we've got about... It's three-row, seven seats, and actually, the legroom is an inch greater inside-

Speaker 2

That's...

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... than a long wheelbase, big, traditional American SUV. And yet, on the other side, the Gravity is only a couple of inches longer than an Air.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... so it's imminently usable in a metropolis.

Speaker 2

Yeah. The midsize, I think that's gonna be a big, big determination as to where we go here.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Indeed, indeed.

Speaker 2

Um-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... and on capital needs, remind us, you know, your liquidity and cash runway.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yes. Yeah, well, we have sufficient cash runway to see us through into the fourth quarter of 2025-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... as we say it. We're at a capital-intensive stage of growing the business.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We're making long-term investments for the future. And, I've been very transparent, Adam, we're going to require some extra capitalization, and we'll do so at appropriate entrepreneurial-

Speaker 2

Right. Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... moments. But look, I mean, you look at the investments we're making. You've seen the factory in Arizona, state-of-the-art. We've got up to 90,000- unit capacity.

Speaker 2

You've front run a lot of the capacity there.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I mean, that is in. Just look at stamping. This last year, we've been paying for trucks, bringing stampings in, we've been paying for scrap, and we've been paying to build that damn thing. All those three costs now go as we go into 2025.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We're gonna build it and make everything in-house. And so also, we're building out the factory in Saudi Arabia. Then we're investing in continuous improvement on Air. Big software upgrade came just on Monday-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... which was very well received. We're gonna be really known as a software-focused company-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... as a tech company with a software-defined vehicle. We've got an Ethernet architecture. We're one of the very first to put that in. We've had that in from the start. Others have only recently got that, got accolades, but actually, we were there originally with a data superhighway-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... and with great over-the-air capability. We're also invested so much in the tooling and launch now, Gravity. We've also got a huge team effort running right now on design and engineering of the midsize.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And half of this. Yeah, and half powertrain is on midsize now because we've announced the Atlas powertrain program. So these represent, you know, five different areas of significant capital burn, and this is all a long-term strategy that's putting us in great stead for the future.

Speaker 2

And midsize, also north of 900 V?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We haven't disclosed that yet.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

But I think-

Speaker 2

That's a-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

It is inevitable. It's gonna be a very high voltage, yeah.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

The right voltage is high.

Speaker 2

Okay, but the way you answered that is-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... maybe not 900 .

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

It might not be.

Speaker 2

Is that for cost reasons or just relative to the performance expectations?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

It's gonna be a multidimensional decision. I mean, for example, Sapphire and GT run at 924 V.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

The Touring runs at 756 V-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... today, and our Pure runs at 672 V. So we have a range of between... They're not all over 900 V.

Speaker 2

Okay, okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And for a whole range of quite deep technical reasons for that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. All else equal, if you had one vehicle, and maybe this is an impossible question.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Forgive me if it's an-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah

Speaker 2

... easy one, but if you had, you know, Car A had a 924 V , Car B had 500 V , what is the cost differential? How significant is that? Are we talking single-digit thousands? Are we talking something close to 10,000 ? I didn't know.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Generally, if you've got higher voltage, you can have less metal, less copper-

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... because you've got less current. You trade voltage for current. Double the volts, half the current, and it's the current you need the metal for.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

You can actually reduce cost. It's just like having a 48-volt architecture. You have less copper-

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... in your low voltage.

Speaker 2

Some trade-offs.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

But that's right. But really, where it matters is to have the high voltage in your high voltage system, not have your high voltage in your low voltage system.

Speaker 2

Right.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

That's what we've gone for.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We've got a low voltage, but 900 on a high voltage-

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... which makes more sense.

Speaker 2

Right. We're gonna talk about software, too. Now, let me just pause for a second. Any questions for Peter from the audience? Has anyone not driven the Air out front, by the way, too? Yeah, okay, yes, yes. Who has driven it? Okay, anyone care to share their impressions? Yeah.

Speaker 3

Well, I think that it's a pretty smooth car, and very comfortable.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Pretty fast. Pretty fast. I don't know what version it was. I don't recall.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

It's, uh-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you

Speaker 2

... it's pretty fast.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

That's cool.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

On your controlled company, Saudi Arabia-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... Public Investment Fund-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... in Saudi Arabia. Beyond capital... Okay, 'cause I talk to investors that say you can never have too much capital. You can never. The auto industry - we're always spending, you never have too much. Do you agree with that?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I think there's a prudent amount of capital. I believe the right way to build a business is to show growth and performance and demonstrate the value that you bring your shareholders, and then go for a prudent amount of capitalization, which is a balance weight between future investment and dilution for the existing shareholders.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

So I think there's this staircase where you trade the security of more capital with the enemy, which is dilution.

Speaker 2

So beyond money, how else has PIF helped the strategic position of the company in addition to the-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... the Aston?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Oh, oh, oh, hugely, hugely.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I mean, they've added a sense of stability around us, that we're here to stay.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

There's a huge credibility. They placed an order for 50,000 vehicles, up to 100,000 vehicles through-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... the Saudi government.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

They opened doors. They enabled a $3 billion accretive package, incentive package for us. It made sense for us as a business to undertake the first car plant there in.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... in Saudi Arabia. And look, we're long-term partners here, which really transcends a normal, mere financial investment.

Speaker 2

No, you're part of their strategic vision, the 2030 vision.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Absolutely. We're a cornerstone of realizing their bold vision, which is a beacon of light for the world actually, for the quintessential-

Speaker 2

That's right.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... fossil fuel economy, to have the foresight to transition to a solar electric type of economy, I think is the right way to go. I really do, and that's what's nice about this because we're mutually incentivized for success.

Speaker 2

Okay. But, making cars in Saudi... Having a Saudi partner-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm.

Speaker 2

... is one thing.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm, mm.

Speaker 2

Making cars in Saudi is another.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

You know, you assemble them, and you're increasing the local content over time.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

We're doing it right now, yes.

Speaker 2

But there's not really the developed supply chain. Maybe I'm wrong, but tell me.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

You're right.

Speaker 2

... like, how do you-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

You're right.

Speaker 2

That takes time. So if you're going 150,000-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm, mm.

Speaker 2

... units-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

... in the factory, the full-blown factory, kind of how would that—what would that local content be? How would you describe it versus a normal, to the extent there's a, let's say, as a normal plant?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... in Casa Grande or-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... in Europe or something like that?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Ultimately, it's a chicken and egg situation. What happens first, the car plants or the supply base? You can't have one without the other.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... it's-

Speaker 2

Have to start somewhere.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, have to start somewhere. But remember, right now, we haven't got a lot of stuff that's localized in Arizona. Sure, we're near to Mexico, and we've got quite a number of suppliers-

Speaker 2

You're quite close to Mexico.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

And that's handy. There's no-

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

But if you're looking at getting cells, say, from the Far East, getting them to the shores of the Red Sea, to a deepwater harbor, is probably easier getting them in to inland Arizona, realistically. So where we are in Saudi Arabia is in the King Abdullah Economic Center, and that's just north of Jeddah, really, on the banks of the Red Sea. So you're right alongside a major world trade artery there.

Speaker 2

How do you get world-class automotive talent to live there?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

It's all about making the environment really, really attractive. And you know what? We've got great local talent there.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Building the cars with great pride.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

There are female workers working alongside their male colleagues there in Saudi Arabia. There's a generation that really wants to work and putting pride in their work, and I'm really proud and pleased that we can be just a small catalyst for that change.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

You know?

Speaker 2

Okay, that's great.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So one of the messages, again, a lot of the tech that you put on display was around the movement of electricity in the car, and then-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Speaker 2

... the movement of the kinetic-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes.

Speaker 2

... and electromagnetic forces-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes.

Speaker 2

... your motor, your battery. It's very impressive. You trying to emphasize the software-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... and you do have great software-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... and software-defined architecture.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

I don't think it's appreciated much.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No, it's-

Speaker 2

And perhaps, I think some of it was you said there was some self-inflicted-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Oh, no question.

Speaker 2

... execution around it.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So tell us then-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... you know, if you're going to be in the EV business, it probably means you're gonna have to have an AV strategy. I mean, not a full Robotaxi. Let's keep the steering wheel on for now.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Please, please.

Speaker 2

Please.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

We're talking to purists here.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you. We're aligned. We're aligned.

Speaker 2

But like, you're gonna have, you know. It's gonna become table stakes.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... to have the Level 2 + system-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

... at some point, probably.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

We debate-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah.

Speaker 2

... the capabilities. So what is the strategy there? How much do you need to vertically integrate, versus, you know, work with partners?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. Well, we-

Speaker 2

Is this currently a [restaurant]?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

The sad thing is we're not really known for our software, which is really not representative of what we're about. We've got world-class software in terms of our battery management software. We wouldn't be able to go over 500 mi . We're the only company that gets over 500 mi range here. We've still got a hundred miles more range over everyone else today, with a car that we brought out three years ago. That's how good our battery software is, our motor control software. We've got the Sapphire. The performance of that car is very much a function of its traction control, getting the power down. Power is nothing without control, and, you know, 1,000x a second, that power is modulated to the tires, all with our own in-house software.

And we're making our own HUD, augmented reality HUD, and that's developed entirely in-house, and that's going into the Gravity, the most advanced heads-up display in the world. That's an in-house development from the team that created the most advanced lighting and all the technology and the software for that in-house that you see in Lucid Air. So, we've got incredible world-class software that you don't see, that people think, "Oh, that's the batteries that gets you 500 mi." Believe you me, it's a lot of that software, the motor control, the blending of the response of the pedal. It's phenomenal in how the regen comes on. That is so seamless and so natural, intuitive-

Speaker 2

Right.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... that's all done in-house. What we haven't got great are not well known for. It's a mea culpa. We need to do better. We need a better infotainment system-

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... and user experience. And actually, with the ADAS, it's not just so much the ADAS, it's the way the ADAS is graphically represented.

Speaker 2

Yeah, how it involves the... Like I say, I have a Tesla. FSD's gotten better, but I've gotten better faster than I think it has. Like, I know when not to use it, and part of it is-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I know the feeling.

Speaker 2

... understanding the information it's giving.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

So exactly that. I've made sweeping changes to the team. I've empowered people who've been with me for many, many years. I've personally taken a lead on this, and words are cheap. So although we've got a roadmap, and I showed the roadmap-

Speaker 2

Right.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... Adam, on to you and others on Tuesday, I was adamant that we got one of these iterations over the air out. The day before we did that, we got 2. 4.0 , the OTA release of software, and that was very well received, and it's seen as a major step up. And we're on that roadmap now. Next six to eight months, you're gonna see us change and really be known as a software-defined vehicle, a software-defined tech company, and the way that our ADAS system's gonna be integrated. We're gonna have a Level 2 hands-off system. I'm promising that by the end of this year. And it's just gonna be relentless, feature release upon feature release.

Speaker 2

Is this in-house?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Absolutely. Extensively in-house. We're moving. Even our OTA delivery now.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... is fully in-house.

Speaker 2

Mm.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Systems that were co-developed are transitioning fully in-house, and our lane tracking, our lane centering, the lane change control-

Speaker 2

Wow.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

... that's in-house, and it's gonna be we're transitioning to. Oh, I wouldn't say fully in-house, but 99%-

Speaker 2

Does this materially change your capital intensity of the business?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No, no.

Speaker 2

Some of your competitors-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No.

Speaker 2

... are spending billions of dollars on compute.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

No.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

I've got a great team. It's just now, we've made leadership changes.

Speaker 2

Uh-huh.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

They're totally motivated, and they're on it, and they're determined to be world-class, and they're working like crazy on being that.

Speaker 2

Okay. You said power is nothing without control.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Yes.

Speaker 2

Sounds a lot sexier that way, the way you say it than-

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

It really-

Speaker 2

... my accent.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

I don't know. It's good, that's good. If I went to my wife and said, "Power is nothing without control," she'd be like, "Get the hell out of the kitchen." Thank you very, very much. All right?

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

I appreciate it.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks for spending time with us.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you.

Speaker 2

You got it.

Peter Rawlinson
CEO and CTO, Lucid

Thank you everyone. Thank you, thank you.

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