- Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said he's reluctant for Lucid to make an electric pickup truck during an event on Tuesday.
- He said it's unrealistic to make EV pickups that are usable and cost-effective without a breakthrough in battery technology.
- That's because EV trucks require bigger, more expensive batteries than other vehicle types.
If you've been holding out hope for a Lucid Motors pickup truck, don't bother. The electric-vehicle startup isn't interested in going toe-to-toe with the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T, its CEO said on Tuesday. Not without a major breakthrough in battery technology, at least.
"I really think that it's very tough to make an electric pickup truck work today," Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said during its Technology and Manufacturing Day event at its Arizona factory. "Not one that's usable and cost-effective."
Why? Pickup trucks are big and heavy. Their owners demand the ability to tow things, an activity that deals a major blow to EV range. Pickups—electric or otherwise—aren't exactly known for their efficiency. All of this necessitates huge battery packs that drive up the cost to consumers, Rawlinson said. That's at odds with Lucid's driving philosophy, which is a deep focus on getting the most miles out of the smallest battery pack possible.
So that clay model of a Lucid pickup truck that floated around the web isn't coming anytime soon, it seems.
"If you want a 300-mile-range pickup, which isn't enough because the thing's got to tow, you're already into a pack size of 120 kilowatt-hours," he said. "I think the minimum threshold for a usable pickup is probably 150 kilowatt-hours."
Meanwhile, the Lucid Air Pure can travel 420 miles on a full charge with a battery pack that's 84 kWh. That's just not happening in a pickup truck. Some of today's EV pickups, Rawlinson said, have a pack that's larger than 240 kWh. He's probably talking about the big ol' GMC Hummer EV.
"Now, how on Earth are you ever going to do that around 50, 55, $60,000 and make a business case?," Rawlison said. "This is why I'm very reluctant for—I don't want Lucid to start thinking about a pickup truck."
For a Lucid pickup to be realistic, he said it will need "a profound improvement in gravimetric energy density of cell chemistry, as well as the work that we're doing in efficiency."
Not all manufacturers are convinced. Rivian, a fellow EV startup, has received heaps of praise for the R1T, the first electric pickup to hit the U.S. market in 2021. Ford has the Lightning. General Motors now has three electric pickups in its stable from GMC and Chevrolet. Tesla recently launched the Cybertruck.
Clearly, Rawlinson has an incentive to convince investors and Wall Street analysts that Lucid is doing things the smart, right way and all those competitors are missing something. Moreover, it wouldn't exactly be easy to Lucid to break into America's cutthroat pickup market, which is largely dominated by GM, Ford, Toyota and Stellantis. But the facts support his argument about EV pickup cost. None of those options mentioned above are cheap in the slightest, and that may be hurting their appeal.
The Rivian R1T will run you $69,900 to start, or at least $76,900 if you want over 300 miles of range. The company expects overall production to remain flat this year, and says it needs lower-priced models to expand its reach. An F-150 Lightning with the 320-mile battery pack option starts at $67,995. Ford isn't making money on its EVs yet and has had to drastically revise down its production plans for the Lightning in the face of lower-than-expected customer appetite.
Is Rawlinson on the right track here? Should Lucid make a big-ass truck to meet the needs of American buyers? Drop a comment below and let us know what you think.
Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com
