Lucid Motors has collaborated with Amazon to carry its voice assistant software program into its debut electrical car, and CEO Peter Rawlinson dismissed considerations concerning the e-commerce big serving as a menace within the auto market.
“I do not assume there is a competitors there. We’re completely satisfied to have Amazon Alexa as a part of our know-how suite,” Rawlinson stated Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.”
Rawlinson’s look got here a day after the Tesla rival unveiled its all-electric Air sedan, which is able to price roughly $80,000 for a base mannequin and go as much as $169,000 for a limited-volume “Dream Version.” Rawlinson was the vp of engineering at Tesla from 2009 to 2012, the place he labored on the event of the corporate’s Mannequin S.
There was hypothesis concerning the extent of Amazon’s ambitions within the auto market. In late June, the Jeff Bezos-led firm introduced it could be acquiring self-driving vehicle start-up Zoox in a deal reportedly value over $1 billion. The Seattle-based agency stated Zoox would proceed to function as a standalone enterprise inside Amazon.
In September 2019, Amazon stated it had ordered 100,000 electric vehicles from Rivian Automotive as a part of its push to get its supply fleet working totally on renewable vitality. Amazon beforehand took half in Rivian’s $700 million investment round that was introduced in early 2019.
Lucid’s tie-up with Amazon will permit drivers “to benefit from the full Alexa expertise on the go …. all whereas holding their eyes on the highway and their palms on the wheel,” according to a press release from Lucid Motors, which acquired a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2018.
Rawlinson emphasised the advantages of the collaboration between Lucid and Amazon after he was requested whether or not the corporate took steps to guard its know-how from the cloud software program and on-line retail titan.
“I see that pure voice recognition is simply good for the car,” stated Rawlinson, who additionally serves as Lucid Motors’ chief know-how officer. “It’s simply the right utility, and what higher than Amazon Alexa? So I do not see any battle there in any respect.”
Lucid expects to start producing the Air early subsequent yr at its plant in Casa Grande, Arizona; the corporate’s timeline was pushed again because of the coronavirus.
