Jaguar I-Pace at the Los Angeles Auto Show<\/a>. Beautifully styled by two of the industry\u2019s leading designers to take on Tesla, the new models \u2014 one from a startup, the other from an established automaker \u2014 come from dramatically different business backgrounds.<\/p>\n\u201cAll credit to Tesla. They have pioneered electric vehicles, but now they know that other brands are on the march. There\u2019s not a car brand at this show that\u2019s not working on a (full-electric) vehicle,\u201d said Andy Goss, Jaguar director of sales and marketing, in an interview. \u201cBMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche all have product coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s Lucid, headquartered in Silicon Valley near Tesla, that is pushing the envelope of EV capability. With a clean sheet of paper, Lucid is coming to the auto market with the intent of redefining it with more versatile EV platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe establishment (automakers) still have the majority of their focus on maintaining their internal-combustion lines,\u201d says Lucid design chief Derek Jenkins, who in his previous role with Mazda designed such lookers as the Miata and CX-9 sport ute. \u201cThat\u2019s their bread and butter \u2014 it defines their segments and their brands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaguar admits as much. Its I-Pace will help the automaker meet looming government emissions rules even as it chases coveted luxury consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompliance issues have something to do with this, especially in China and Europe,\u201d says Goss of those nations\u2019 increasingly strict greenhouse gas limits. Battery-electric vehicles are a massive contributors to getting your average (fuel-economy ratings) down.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a development team led by Chief Technology Officer Peter Rawlinson \u2014 Tesla\u2019s former chief engineer \u2014 the gorgeous Air has the same exterior dimensions as the Model S but is larger inside. Where Tesla conformed to design standards of a long hood and tapered rear, the Lucid fully exploits the lack of gas engine for interior space. The Air\u2019s premium model sports a full-glass moon-roof from stem to stern \u2014 hence its name.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can extract the full potential of the electric car. I couldn\u2019t have done that at Tesla,\u201d says Rawlinson. \u201cBecause the batteries are in the floor, this car has the exterior dimensions of a Mercedes E-Class and the interior dimensions of an S-Class long wheelbase.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mercedes S-Class starts at $96,000. The Lucid, slated for 2020 sale, hopes to bow at just $60,000 \u2014 similar to the Model S. Lucid is in the process of raising $240 million to build its Casa Grande, Arizona, production plant.<\/p>\n
Jaguar\u2019s I-Pace, due next year, will likely start higher given its brand equity. Much of that value comes from the pen of legendary designer Ian Callum, father of the Jaguar F-Type, arguably the prettiest sports car in production. Yet Callum, like Lucid\u2019s Jenkins, has turn away from the long hoods that Jaguar made famous (the signature 1960s E-Type is practically all hood) in order to take advantage of the 90 kWh battery pack stowed in the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have an advantage because Jaguar has a design pioneer in Ian Callum and his existing design cues are particularly suited to electrification,\u201d says Goss.<\/p>\n
While similar in length to Jaguar\u2019s popular F-Pace SUV, the I-Pace rides on its own platform and promises considerably more interior space thanks to its 4.6-inch longer wheelbase. Though nominally a crossover, Jaguar expects the I-Pace to draw both Model S and Model X customers.<\/p>\n
Lucid\u2019s product line more closely tracks Tesla\u2019s model with a variety of battery options. Like Tesla, its base model with be rear-wheel drive with 240-mile range battery (kWh yet to be determined). Then battery sizes jump to 315-mile-range 100 kWh (equivalent to the current top-of-the-line Model S P100D), and a huge 130 kWh pack with 400-mile range and all-wheel drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the team that did it before. I\u2019ve got the key brains behind the Tesla Model S,\u201d says Rawlinson.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York \u2014 The Tesla Model S sedan and Model X SUV have pioneered the luxury electric-vehicle segment. But now they have company on both fronts. The Lucid Air, a Model S-fighter, debuted at the New York Auto Show this week, just five months after the curtain rose on the Model X-fighting Jaguar I-Pace at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20416,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20414\/revisions\/20416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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