Lucid Motors will go after Tesla during Elon Musk's SNL episode
The EV startup is boasting about its Air's 500-mile range, which could beat Tesla to market.
Whether or not the Air actually will beat Tesla, at least it looks good.
Elon Musk will be hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, and regardless of your feelings about it, there's no denying it's a pretty brilliant marketing move. Tesla doesn't do any sort of traditional marketing, whether that be print ads or television commercials, but Musk's monologue and sketches are sure to reference his Tesla and SpaceX ventures at the very least. EV startup Lucid Motors apparently will be capitalizing on the moment too; the company tweeted Friday that it will run a commercial during SNL for the Lucid Air sedan that will directly go after Tesla.
The tweet reads, "Guess who is making an appearance during SNL tomorrow?" This is presumably referencing an ad spot that will air during a commercial break. The tweet also contains the hashtag #Firstto500, a reference to the Air's driving range and Lucid's goal of being first to market with an EV that has a 500-mile range. Lucid says the Dream Edition of the Air will have a 503-mile range while the Grand Touring will be able to go 517 miles on a charge, both of which beat the versions of the Tesla Model S that are currently available.
Guess who is making an appearance during #SNL tomorrow? #LucidAir #Firstto500 pic.twitter.com/aXquKSEND6
— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) May 7, 2021
A few months ago Tesla announced the Plaid Plus version of the Model S, which it says will have a range of more than 520 miles. But while production of that model was originally set to start late this year, Tesla recently pushed back deliveries to mid-2022. Lucid, meanwhile, seems to be on track for deliveries of the Air to start in the second half of this year -- a couple months behind the original Q2 2021 goal, but well ahead of Tesla's Plaid Plus model. (Lucid's factory is done, at least.)
It's pretty bold of Lucid to pull a stunt like this since deliveries of the Air haven't actually started. Nevertheless, even if production gets delayed by another few months it seems like the Air will beat the Model S Plaid Plus to market and be the first electric car on sale with a range of over 500 miles. That is, unless the EPA comes in and rates the Air with a shorter range than Lucid's own estimates. Regardless, this is the kind of direct shade that we enjoy seeing from automakers, even if it will surely result in some salty tweets from Musk.
