Lucid’s CEO Will get Candid About The EV Mistake Automakers Will not Discuss About

• As Lucid Motors faces a landmark 12 months, interim CEO Marc Winterhoff received candid about one factor the auto business received flawed about electrical automobiles: advertising and marketing.
• Winterhoff mentioned not sufficient automobile corporations harassed the inherent strengths of EVs, like efficiency and inside house.
• Can automobile corporations study from this error as they face a slower 12 months of U.S. gross sales?

For a very long time, the principle motive to purchase an electrical automobile was to assist the planet—or a minimum of to cease paying for gasoline. The earliest trendy EVs had been marketed as earth-friendly alternate options to gasoline automobiles, even when that meant vital tradeoffs in practicality, long-distance driving and even freeway speeds.

That each one actually began to alter with the appearance of the Tesla Mannequin Swhich ditched the equipment vibes to run with the likes of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. Certain, the environmental advantages had been there, however Mannequin S homeowners received a complete lot greater than that.

Maybe automakers misplaced that memo someplace alongside the road. Talking at CES 2026 this previous week, the interim CEO of one other electrical automobile firm, Marc Winterhoff of Lucid Motorslamented the truth that maybe the auto business as a complete hasn’t discovered the best messaging to promote EVs.

“I feel all people that you simply ask in that house would say the EV is the higher platform for (autonomous automobiles),” Winterhoff mentioned in an interview concerning the firm’s new driverless taxi enterprise with Nuro and Uber. “I need to go somewhat bit additional than that. The EV shouldn’t be solely the higher platform for robotaxis, it is the higher automobile.”

Photograph by: Patrick George

Winterhoff, who took the CEO reins from Lucid founder Peter Rawlinson final 12 months, jokingly admitted that he “has” to say that. His firm is all-electric, in any case, and one other government may give a solution about “shopper selection” as an alternative. However he admitted that the auto business as a complete was too centered on advertising and marketing EVs based mostly on sustainability and environmental issues, which doesn’t resonate with many extra mainstream patrons merely in search of worth.

“I feel what we have to do is best clarify the prevalence of that know-how, versus what we’ve got sadly finished,” Winterhoff mentioned, referring not simply to Lucid however to the business as a complete.

Naturally, he pointed to the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring SUV for instance. “Examine what you get from an EV with a extremely aggressive ICE (inside combustion engine) automobile,” he mentioned. Winterhoff mentioned he just lately researched his automobile’s specs vs. gas-powered luxurious rivals and was shocked at what he found.

87

Supply: Patrick George

“Whenever you take a look at the specs, our precise rivals are the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 or the likes of the BMW X7 M60i. Throw in a Lamborghini Urus, if you need, and the Porsche Cayenne GTS and the Vary Rover SV. And if you evaluate the specs, acceleration, inside house, and vary—the Gravity has the very best vary,” he mentioned.

Contemplating that the Gravity Grand Touring has an EPA-rated vary of 450 miles, and people gasoline choices supply roughly 17-21 MPG with their giant engines, he’s largely right. MotorTrend says the Cayenne GTS yields round 427 miles on its EPA-estimated gas financial system, for instance. The Lamborghini matches the Gravity Grand Touring’s vary, however actually solely in hybrid kind. And if you need gas financial system from an X7, you in all probability aren’t choosing the twin-turbo V8 model.

“And then you definitely evaluate the specs, acceleration, inside house,” Winterhoff added, contending that the 828-horsepower SUV with a minivan-like inside quantity (with a spacious frunk) and a 3.3-second 0-60 mph time has these automobiles beat in some kind or vogue. He additionally mentioned that whereas EV critics will argue you possibly can replenish these ICE automobiles wherever, a 450-mile street journey continues to be a “a few times a 12 months” factor for a lot of patrons. “And you continue to have to cease for a break after 400 miles,” he mentioned.

Granted, that’s one instance from one automaker, and it makes use of a automobile that begins round $95,000. However Winterhoff’s level is that automakers with electrical choices have to stress the specs that they ship.

“We’ve got mentioned, ‘EV is sustainable, and ICE shouldn’t be,’ however if you happen to give attention to the specs that you simply get, I feel that is what we have to do as an EV business to beat the present ‘winter’ that we see,” he mentioned.

That may be robust for an business that is usually constructed round doing the identical issues it is at all times finished, and anticipating prospects to easily present up for a similar sorts of merchandise it has at all times constructed. Even in Lucid’s case, a lot of its early advertising and marketing centered round “effectivity,” which is a nebulous time period that does not absolutely convey its true advantages to mainstream automobile patrons.

Within the case of conventional automakers breaking into EVs, you do not usually hear them stressing these automobiles’ higher efficiency or near-total lack of upkeep. That is not the most effective search for their present gasoline fashions, which by and huge are those delivering the earnings proper now. Your entire house has been dogged by misinformation about every little thing from battery longevity to their pressure on the electrical grid. And a number of research present that automobile sellers can battle with information aboutand even curiosity in, transferring electrical automobiles.

Maybe Winterhoff is right, and automakers of all stripes have to give attention to specs and the truth of the EV expertise—particularly as the whole house strikes previous dear spaceships and into extra inexpensive choices. On the finish of this 12 months, Lucid is anticipated to unveil the primary of a number of new fashions aimed on the Tesla Mannequin Y, bringing its costs to a a lot wider viewers than ever earlier than.

Within the interim, electrical gross sales in America are anticipated to sluggish with out the $7,500 tax credit score and weakened gas financial system guidelines delaying the urgency of EV growth. However Winterhoff mentioned that he continued progress within the house, and the assorted classes automakers are studying from their early errors, make him optimistic long-term about gross sales rebounding.

“I truly like this time period EV winter, as a result of the final time I checked, after every winter there is a spring,” he mentioned.

Contact the writer: patrick.george@insideevs.com