Tesla and Elon Musk have long promised a $25.000 electric vehicle, but have largely abandoned the idea. What's more, a new official in Donald Trump's administration recently dismissed the idea as nonsensical.
Now Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson has made it clear that his company is not interested in that price point either, although he still admits there is potential in the low-cost electric vehicle segment.
In a recent Wall Street Journal podcast, Rawlinson explained the challenges of low-cost electric vehicles: "This market is notorious for being mass-produced -- horrible, low margins... Building a factory for millions of these units doesn't make sense to me."
Nevertheless, Rawlinson indirectly sees its opportunity in this segment, as other brands also benefit from Lucid's solutions. “That's where our licensing opportunity comes in. As a technology company, we license technology so that other OEMs can benefit from it. If they decide to produce such a low-cost vehicle, it also indirectly benefits us."
Clearly, many automakers have significantly more concrete manufacturing infrastructure than Lucid. After all, Lucid will sell fewer cars this year than Lamborghini. This is why the revenue stream from technological solutions is so much more important for other manufacturers.
But even in this story there is a complication, because the manufacturers are not exactly fighting for Lucid's technologies. Many already have their own development strategies, especially in the area of low-cost electric car development. Ford, for example, already has its own team working on developing a new platform for them.
