Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks'

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tesla, and its CEO Elon Musk, are the big names in electric vehicles, but a lot of competitors are nipping at their heels, including one led by a former top Tesla engineer. Peter Rawlinson is the CEO of Lucid, a billion-dollar auto startup he says has better technology than its rivals. The company recently completed a $1.75 billion stock offering, and has backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Now, as major automakers such as Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford pull back on their EV ambitions, find out why Rawlinson says Lucid’s all-in on luxury vehicles with a high price tag and, eventually, smaller batteries. Plus, why he says he won’t be building a $20,000 EV any time soon. He speaks to WSJ’s Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims in episode one of our interview series Bold Names. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Further Reading The Withering Dream of a Cheap American Electric Car Elon Musk Plays a Familiar Song: Robot Cars Are Coming Ultralong-Range Electric Cars Are Arriving. Say Goodbye to Charging Stops. Used EVs Sell for Bargain Prices Now, Putting Owners and Dealers in a Bind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:33.9	In the world of electric vehicles, Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk are seen as the leaders,
0:40.1	but there are others nipping at their heels, including a British man named Peter Rawlinson,
0:45.7	who is the chief executive of electric carmaker Lucid.
0:49.4	Rawlinson has been a key player in the electric car revolution, but his company is at a crossroads.
0:56.0	It's fighting to be one of the winners in the race to an electrified future,
1:00.0	at a time when it's not clear that everyone is going to survive.
1:04.0	I want to change the narrative here.
1:06.0	We have raised in a brutal market around 1.75 billion right now.
1:12.4	And I think that puts us in an incredible position.
1:15.1	It helps secure the future of this company.
1:17.8	And I would challenge many other companies to raise that sort of quantum in these sort of
1:24.2	trading conditions.
1:26.0	Rawlinson's pedigree is hard to match.
1:28.3	He was one of the engineers behind the Tesla Model S,
1:30.3	which helped reshape how the world thinks about the electric car,
1:34.3	and is seen as one of the most innovative vehicles of the 21st century.
1:38.3	At Lucid, he has developed a critically acclaimed sedan called the Air,
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