\n<\/p>\n
Lucid Motors has debuted a robotaxi concept vehicle that it\u2019s calling the \u201cLucid Lunar,\u201d which it showed off at an investor day on Thursday in New York City.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a two-seater vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, designed to be built on the same underlying platform that Lucid Motors is developing for its upcoming \u201cmid-size\u201d series of electric vehicles, the company said. <\/p>\n
Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said Lucid was already \u201cworking on\u201d Lunar and that it would debut after the company launches its mid-size vehicles, but the company later clarified to TechCrunch that there is no active development happening on the dedicated robotaxi \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n
Lucid Motors also said Thursday that it is near an agreement with Uber to collaborate on a robotaxi based on one of the mid-size vehicles Lucid has in the pipeline. Lucid Motors is currently working with autonomous vehicle company Nuro to make an autonomous version of the Gravity SUV that will launch on Uber\u2019s network by the end of this year in the San Francisco area. Nuro and Lucid would not confirm whether this new vehicle will use Nuro\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n
The announcements came near the end of Lucid\u2019s investor day, but show that the company is increasingly focused on trying to build up a business around autonomy that can supplement its electric vehicle sales. At one point during the presentation, Lucid Motors displayed a bar chart that showed how it expects robotaxi partnership revenue to greatly eclipse the money it makes from licensing its electric vehicle tech, though there was no label on the Y-axis.<\/p>\n
Lucid is also looking to make some money on its partial autonomy play. The company revealed that it plans to offer monthly subscriptions for its DreamDrive Pro that scale up with increased capability starting in the first half of 2027. Owners can pay $69 per month for the lowest driver assistance level, or as much as $199 per month for self-driving capability that won\u2019t require the driver to take over at any point. (Lucid Motors has still not developed that more advanced capability yet, nor has any other automaker, it should be noted.)<\/p>\n
The company shared a slide Thursday that said autonomy subscriptions \u201care the single biggest software monetization opportunity.\u201d It\u2019s something that Tesla has been doing for a while with its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, and it\u2019s a similar approach to what Rivian announced<\/a> at its own \u201cAutonomy & AI Day\u201d in late December. <\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> Also like Rivian, Lucid Motors is working on its own in-cabin AI assistant. The company is aiming to make the assistant capable of doing simple tasks like turning the air conditioning up or down, or handling complex queries like finding \u201csomething to do that\u2019s a little unique, maybe off the beaten path, and maybe has kind of a maritime or nautical vibe.\u201d It\u2019s not clear how well that works right now; Lucid Motors\u2019 attempt to demo the assistant live during the event failed, and the company instead showed a pre-recorded video.<\/p>\n The rest of Lucid\u2019s event focused heavily on the company\u2019s attempts to drive down the cost of manufacturing its vehicles, as well as its efforts to push the boundaries of the efficiency of its electric drivetrain. Those will be crucial components of making the mid-sized vehicles affordable (they\u2019re supposed to start around $50,000) when the first one hits the market by the end of this year. The company revealed that one will be known as the Lucid Cosmos, and the second vehicle will be called the Lucid Earth. The third name was not announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n