As Tesla’s stock gets beaten up by some of the worst down days since the onset of COVID-19, its competitive edge over rival products is taking its own kind of beating.
If you’ve been following the market at all, you’re probably guessing that this threat to Tesla’s reign as the performance king of electric vehicles (and all vehicles really) is coming from Porsche’s Taycan Turbo S, which matches or beats Tesla’s acceleration and top speed performance.
Not this time. The new threat for Tesla isn’t a well-established automotive brand from Germany or any other foreign country.
Yesterday, Arizona-based Lucid Motors unveiled its flagship product, the Lucid Air sedan.
It’s faster, more efficient, has greater range, and is priced precisely to compete with the Model S, from basic model all the way up to the super premium drivetrain and trim levels.
And by all measurable standards, the Lucid comes out on top.
Five hundred seventeen miles per charge versus Tesla’s 402; quarter mile in 9.9 seconds to Tesla’s 10.5; and as for looks… well, you can judge for yourself.
But Lucid Motors’ greatest asset isn’t its debut sedan, which is scheduled to go into production next year at the company’s $700 million Casa Grande plant, but its CEO, Peter Rawlinson.
Nobody knows the competition better than Rawlinson, who served as Tesla’s VP of engineering and chief engineer of the Model S between 2009 and 2012.
He claims that Lucid’s offering will be up to 17% more efficient than the industry benchmark S model, with a faster rate of charge and more storage space.
Prices will range between $80,000 and $170,000. Initially, the Casa Grande factory will be able to produce about 34,000 vehicles, but Rawlinson estimates that production, by decade’s end, will exceed 400,000 units. There is already a plan for an SUV, but that might not see the light of day until 2022 or later.
With the looks, the engineering pedigree, the performance figures, and the financial backing of a powerful majority stakeholder — a Saudi wealth fund worth more than $380 billion — Lucid has everything it needs to take on Tesla in the market.
What’s Next?
As performance figures for modern luxury EVs start getting competitive with even the rarest, most expensive, most sought-after super exotics in the world, it’s clear where the future of the class is headed.
There is no need, no call for, and most likely, no way to effectively manage a fleet of automobiles capable of the speeds and lateral Gs that cars like the Lucid Air can achieve, which means that the only rational place to focus the effort is efficiency.
If Lucid’s claim of a 517-mile-range model proves accurate (and there’s no reason it shouldn’t), then the dream of a true electric touring vehicle will have come true: a vehicle whose range will outlast most drivers trying to drive nonstop as long as they can. And then when Lucid Air does stop, it’s not for long. Charging a battery back up to a 300-mile range is reported to take just 20 minutes.
Tesla will need to take a quantum leap with its next generation of competing products.
The question is: How?
Batteries are one place where you can always improve capacity, charge time, and charge/discharge lifespan, but the best way of all to get efficiency is to start by wasting less energy performing your primary function.
Start at the Beginning
In the case of the electric vehicle, that primary function is, of course, getting power to its wheels.
You’d think that in the world of electric motor design, there probably isn’t a whole lot more to be done, right? They’ve been around for almost 200 years. They’re everywhere.
In fact, electric motors are the most common electric device on the planet, so much so that they consume more than 50% of the electricity produced by mankind.
For every two watts created or stored by any power plant or any battery, about one watt ends up turning some sort of motor, whether it’s the tiny one that makes your phone vibrate or the giant one that pulls trains along at 200 miles per hour.
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That’s how common electric motors are, but here’s what’s really astonishing: Despite having been around since the 1820s, electric motor design really hasn’t changed all that much.
In fact, all modern electric motors function basically the same way as Michael Faraday’s original design.
A Game-Changing Technology Emerges
And this is where Tesla engineers need to be really paying attention, because it’s that original design, and the original flaw that came along with that design, that opens the door to an opportunity.
Tesla needs to make its motors more efficient. More efficiency means greater range, more dependability, maybe even more power — all things that Tesla will need to get around the Lucid Air and the rest of its competitors.
A company operating out of Vancouver, British Columbia has recently perfected a new electric motor design that, for the first time ever, takes Michael Faraday’s original design to the next level.
This new motor features artificial-intelligence-guided power distribution, which makes the motor perform better at any motor speed.
The result: not just increased range, but more power, more dependability, less heat, and fewer breakdowns.
Of course, Tesla may or may not choose to adopt this technology, but somebody else likely will. The company behind this innovation is signing new partnership agreements on a regular basis, with the goal of getting this technology into as many consumer and commercial applications as possible.
This secret won’t last long. Between the partnerships and the breakthroughs, this company will become the focus of serious media and industry attention soon enough.
And if you think electric motors are exciting, wait until you hear the plans for electric generators.
The opportunity there is even greater.
To get all the facts, figures, and science behind this incredible new technology — and what it could mean for companies like Tesla and Lucid — I suggest you take a look at this video presentation.
It will give you a rare look into what could be one of the most important technological trends of the next decade.
Click here for instant access.
Fortune favors the bold,
Alex Koyfman
Check us out on YouTube!His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to Energy and Capital. To learn more about Alex, click here.
