Lucid is a potential competitor to Tesla, with a market capitalization of nearly $70 billion

Lucid (LCID), a potential competitor to Tesla with a market capitalization of nearly $70 billion and essentially no sales, is why it is expected that the number of cars produced in about eight years will be half of Tesla's.

Lucid (LCID.US) was formerly battery supplier Atieva. In 2016, Atieva officially changed its name to Lucid and officially entered the vehicle manufacturing industry. Lucid, which uses the SPAC approach, went public in July 2021. In terms of financing, Lucid has conducted six rounds of financing with a total financing of more than $4.5 billion, and Lucid is supported by large funds such as the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Blackstone and Fidelity.

As of Jan. 4, Lucid was the third-largest new car-making force in the United States with a market capitalization of $67.4 billion, second only to Tesla and Rivian. Lucid started delivering to users in October 2021, with the first 575 units delivered. Lucid's continuous accumulation in powertrain technology has made the products perform well in high power performance and long cruising range; Lucid has a strong cost control ability, helping products have a stronger cost-effective advantage.

According to the latest news, Lucid previously announced that it has become the new "king of endurance" in the US electric vehicle market, just as CEO Peter Rawlinson originally conveyed to the market the idea of creating "the world's most practical car".

What is the current situation of Lucid Automobiles?

Lucid achieved the valuation without recognizing any revenue from the sale of vehicles. It did start delivering vehicles in October, but the number was only a few dozen, maybe even hundreds, but still basically zero.

"In our third quarter results, you'll see the costs associated with starting production in September. However, given that customers start deliveries on October 30, you won't see car revenue until the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, Lucid recognized revenue of $232,000, primarily related to the use of our battery packs in the Formula E series," Chief Financial Officer Sherry House explained on the company's third-quarter earnings call.

Lucid does have plans to ramp up production, and CEO Peter Rawlinson seems excited about interest in the company's first car, the Lucid Air. "Right now, the wonderful experience of Lucid Air by these customers and media so far will only increase interest in the brand, and the result is an acceleration in the pace of new bookings, currently at 17,000 units, and it's still climbing rapidly," he said.

It's worth noting that Lucid requires a $3,000 deposit to book Lucid Air. That's a lot bigger than the $100 Tesla asked for when people booked Cybertruck.

If all goes well for Lucid, it expects to produce half as many cars as Tesla in about eight years. Peter Rawlinson laid out the company's production roadmap during the conference call. Explicitly, "end of the decade" refers to 2030. That means Lucid Investors will have to wait a long time until there's a link between car production and valuation.

Of course, the current 17,000 bookings will need to continue to grow before we can approach the actual sales of 500,000 vehicles by 2030.