Shares of luxury electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid Group (LCID 0.46%) surged as much as 8% higher on Wednesday morning. The move came as CEO Peter Rawlinson started trying to generate excitement among investors for the company's upcoming fully electric Gravity SUV.
Rawlinson was interviewed at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance car show in California. As of 12:35 p.m. ET today, Lucid shares had pared some early gains, but were still up by 5.6%.
Taking the mantle from Tesla
In his comments, Rawlinson didn't hold back from taking some jabs at his old boss, Elon Musk. Rawlinson was previously a senior engineer at Tesla.
He noted that the Lucid Air sedan -- which was launched in 2021 -- is still one of the most efficient EVs in production, with the base model having a battery range estimated at about 420 miles. The Air Grand Touring version starts at about $110,000 and can reach an estimated 516 miles on a single charge.
Rawlinson said Lucid has "taken the mantle from Tesla" in EV technology, and he touted the new Gravity SUV with its range of up to 440 miles.
Lucid is set to begin production on the Gravity this year, and Rawlinson thinks it has a potential market about six times larger than that of the luxury Air Sedans. Lucid expects to produce only about 9,000 Air EVs this year, but it hopes with a starting price below $80,000, the SUV will be what it needs to hit mass production.
The CEO also addressed slowing EV sales as hybrids are becoming more popular. He called the slowdown a "temporary blip" and said hybrids are not a good solution. He blamed many EVs being rushed to market and thus offering consumers many "underwhelming options" at this stage.
NASDAQ: LCID
Key Data Points
The Gravity will be a crucial launch for Lucid, so it's not surprising to see the company's CEO working to generate excitement. Investors will want to pay careful attention to how well it's received when shipping begins in earnest in 2025.
