A sizable new program with an existing business partner was the news that put acceleration into Lucid Group's (LCID +5.94%) shares on Thursday. Investors piled into the electric vehicle (EV) maker's equity, sending it up almost 6% that trading session.
A major potential deployment
Lucid and that partner, European rideshare company Bolt, announced they are launching a combined effort to deploy a minimum of 25,000 fully autonomous vehicles made by Lucid in that continent and the Middle East. This is part of a broader aim for Bolt to have 100,000 such autos on its platform by 2035, a very ambitious goal by any standard.
Image source: Getty Images.
This would represent a major expansion of the two companies' existing partnership, which has been limited to deploying Lucid's relatively high-end EV models for Bolt's ridesharing services in Saudi Arabia.
In a press release on the arrangement, Lucid quoted its CEO, Silvio Napoli, as saying that "shared autonomous mobility offers the perfect opportunity to extend our unique technology beyond consumer vehicles."
He added that "together we will deliver an exceptional customer experience."
NASDAQ: LCID
Key Data Points
First things first
The financial details and other key terms of the new Lucid/Bolt partnership weren't disclosed in the press release.
While it's potentially quite the business booster for both companies, especially Lucid, we should bear in mind that the world remains quite some distance from Level 5 (i.e., fully autonomous) vehicle operation. If I were a Lucid shareholder, I'd be more encouraged by the advancements the company and its technical partners make that push it closer to 100% self-driving.
