Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson on Tuesday touted what he referred to as the electrical automotive firm’s “world class tech,” however acknowledged challenges round car manufacturing.
Rawlinson, former Tesla engineering govt, appeared on CNBC the morning after Lucid introduced a reverse merger with particular objective acquisition firm Churchill Capital Corp IV to go public. It is the biggest SPAC transaction involving an EV firm. SPACs are an alternative choice to preliminary public choices for companies that wish to turn out to be publicly traded shares.
CCIV shares sank practically 48% to $30 per share in early Tuesday buying and selling, earlier than recovering a few of these losses, giving the merged firm a market worth of greater than $50 billion, in keeping with Reuters, larger than Ford Motor. By comparability, direct competitor Tesla has a market cap of greater than $637 billion.
Forward of Monday evening’s announcement and subsequent inventory decline, latest deal hypothesis had pushed CCIV up 470% this yr alone. Upon completion of the deal, seen within the second-quarter, Lucid is anticipated to be listed on the New York Inventory Alternate underneath the ticker LCID.
“I feel that the valuation is a mirrored image of our know-how,” Rawlinson mentioned, whereas including that extra work must be completed for Lucid to generate investor return. “What we have to now’s humbly and diligently execute and get this into manufacturing. That’s what will really drive the worth,” he pressured, in recognition that manufacturing an electrical automotive on a mass scale is a troublesome endeavor.
Deliveries of Lucid’s first automotive, the all-electric Air, are actually set for the second half of this yr, a delay from its earlier forecast. Manufacturing will happen at a plant the corporate in-built southeast of Phoenix in Casa Grande, Arizona. The Air begins at $77,400, with out together with the federal EV tax credit score.
Lucid initiatives it should earn $2.9 billion in EBITDA, or earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization, in 2026, in keeping with an investor presentation. It initiatives to ship 251,000 autos that yr. Along with the posh Air, Lucid plans to start producing an SUV in 2023 and finally “extra inexpensive” autos down the street. Batteries made by Lucid’s know-how division, Atieva, are at present used on the electrical racing circuit System E.
“I feel we have an formidable however but realizable plan. We have proven that we will govt,” Rawlinson mentioned. “If you happen to have a look at the manufacturing unit we have constructed at present, we did that in file time.”
Rawlinson additionally talked in regards to the expertise of the executives and managers round him, together with these with previous profession stops at corporations such Tesla and Apple. The investor presentation mentioned former officers from conventional automakers such Mazda, Ford and Audi are additionally on board.
“We have the experience. We have the monitor file at supply,” mentioned Rawlinson, who labored on the Mannequin S whereas at Tesla. “What’s actually essential now, although, notably the following few months, is to get our first product into manufacturing. That is the nice litmus.”
