There has been no shortage of startups looking to emulate Tesla's success over the past decade, but eventually, very few managed to establish a production line and actually deliver a finished product to a customer.
At this point at least, Lucid Motors is one of the industry's success stories, even if back when it first poked its head there were other competitors (yes, Faraday Future, I'm looking at you) who were making a lot more noise but have since fallen behind. You could say the Air has had a slow start in terms of volumes, but nobody except Tesla's most die-hard fans could ever say anything less than flattering about the model's performance (and even appearance, I might add, though we're entering treacherously subjective waters).
Everything considered, it's still a bit early to say that Lucid Motors has laid a solid foundation, but let's pretend it has. Let's imagine the Air sell as well as an EV this capable should in a market where there is still plenty of room for newcomers (especially since legacy carmakers are only now tentatively entering the ring). This would give Lucid complete confidence in its product and, therefore, in its own abilities.
Any parenting book worth its weight in salt will tell you that the moment when the magic starts to happen is when a fledgling feels confident. In Lucid Motor's case, that magic would most definitely involve a performance car aimed at taking down Tesla's current supremacy. Ideally, it would also target the future models coming from the Palo Alto-based company, and I'm obviously thinking of the Roadster here (that is if - and it's a big "if" - it ever becomes anything more than a demo car).
Even if Lucid was to think about such a model, we would still be a few years away from finding out about it, and a few more years from seeing it on the road. However, considering the pace at which things happen in the automotive industry, we doubt the design team at least hasn't already come up with several exterior design proposals for all types of vehicles, just to see how the brand's current visual identity would look like on anything from an SUV to a hypercar.
The Lucid GT3 rendering you see here seems to lack the dramatism necessary to enter hypercar territory, but then again, the company's design simplicity can very easily help with blurring that line. Call it what you will, if the performance levels are high enough to look down on those of any other existing vehicle, the Lucid GT3 would be entitled to call itself whatever it wants. Surely it couldn't do worse than "Technoking," right?
The great thing about this personal project from Brazilian designer Dudu Barba (currently working for the PSA Group where he designs "small or cheap" cars, hence the welcome change of scenery provided by the Lucid rendering), apart from the high-quality execution, is that it manages the perfect blend of elegance and sportiness, something you often only see with iconic brands such as Ferrari.
Put the Lucid GT3 in the right environment, and it looks like the perfect GT car - ready to take its driver and passenger across great distances (this is where the company's excellent maximum range shown on the Air comes into play as well) with haste and in complete comfort. Slap a big wing on its rear, wrap it in a brighter color, and switch some of the aero elements with more aggressive carbon fiber ones, and you get something that looks like it could give the Porsche 911 GT2 RS a run for its money on the track.
Comparing its design to the Tesla Roadster feels a bit unfair - first, because this is an unofficial project - and a virtual one at that - from a designer unaffiliated with the mother company whereas the Roadster is a concept developed by Tesla itself. However, the thing I feel makes this juxtaposition even more skewed is the sheer age gap.
Despite the fact it's nowhere to be seen, the Roadster is already over four years old, which means that when or if it is launched, it will be sporting quite an aging design. This one, on the other hand, is fresh from the oven. And it shows.
Whatever lies ahead - Roadster or no Roadster, performance model from Lucid or not - two things are clear: one, the way we think about cars is going through major transformations thanks to the advent of EVs, and two, it's going to be pretty exciting. What are we talking about? - it's going to be very exciting.
Everything considered, it's still a bit early to say that Lucid Motors has laid a solid foundation, but let's pretend it has. Let's imagine the Air sell as well as an EV this capable should in a market where there is still plenty of room for newcomers (especially since legacy carmakers are only now tentatively entering the ring). This would give Lucid complete confidence in its product and, therefore, in its own abilities.
Any parenting book worth its weight in salt will tell you that the moment when the magic starts to happen is when a fledgling feels confident. In Lucid Motor's case, that magic would most definitely involve a performance car aimed at taking down Tesla's current supremacy. Ideally, it would also target the future models coming from the Palo Alto-based company, and I'm obviously thinking of the Roadster here (that is if - and it's a big "if" - it ever becomes anything more than a demo car).
The Lucid GT3 rendering you see here seems to lack the dramatism necessary to enter hypercar territory, but then again, the company's design simplicity can very easily help with blurring that line. Call it what you will, if the performance levels are high enough to look down on those of any other existing vehicle, the Lucid GT3 would be entitled to call itself whatever it wants. Surely it couldn't do worse than "Technoking," right?
The great thing about this personal project from Brazilian designer Dudu Barba (currently working for the PSA Group where he designs "small or cheap" cars, hence the welcome change of scenery provided by the Lucid rendering), apart from the high-quality execution, is that it manages the perfect blend of elegance and sportiness, something you often only see with iconic brands such as Ferrari.
Comparing its design to the Tesla Roadster feels a bit unfair - first, because this is an unofficial project - and a virtual one at that - from a designer unaffiliated with the mother company whereas the Roadster is a concept developed by Tesla itself. However, the thing I feel makes this juxtaposition even more skewed is the sheer age gap.
Despite the fact it's nowhere to be seen, the Roadster is already over four years old, which means that when or if it is launched, it will be sporting quite an aging design. This one, on the other hand, is fresh from the oven. And it shows.
Whatever lies ahead - Roadster or no Roadster, performance model from Lucid or not - two things are clear: one, the way we think about cars is going through major transformations thanks to the advent of EVs, and two, it's going to be pretty exciting. What are we talking about? - it's going to be very exciting.