Automotive Engineering - April 2022 - 13

COVER STORY
Lucid's drive module showing planetary gearset
in foregroud. The differential (not shown)
resides inside the stator center.
efficient motor than anyone else. We've got a more
aerodynamic car. "
Using Rawlinson's " space concept " vision, the Air
was designed from the inside out, creating a car that's
smaller on the outside than a Tesla S but featuring a
roomy interior with more rear seat legroom than a
long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It's also agile
and, with 1,080 hp (805 kW) available through all four
wheels, fun to drive.
The team didn't aim for king-of-the-hill 0-60 mph
acceleration in its target setting. Instead, it aimed for
range, efficiency and " mid-range punch. " Deft aerodynamic
work by Jenkins' designers and Lucid aerodynamicist
Jean-Charles Monnet, hired from the Red Bull
Formula One team, resulted in an aircraft-inspired exterior
form boasting a .20 Cd(A). Rawlinson believes
Air is slipperier than a Mercedes-Benz EQS. Even the
underside of the Air's battery pack is slightly radiused
for lower drag, " to achieve better airflow attachment
toward the back of the car, " Monnet said. An underbody
diffuser is mounted from the B-pillar rearward.
But the key to optimizing total vehicle efficiency was
minimizing the electric powertrain.
In-house design engineering focus
Rawlinson said the Air program's biggest achievement,
and biggest risk, was undertaking the 'space concept'
without the powertrain technology (at the time) to make
it work. " If it [powertrain] couldn't be miniaturized, the
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
concept wouldn't fly, " he explained. The first Air prototype was only
two-wheel drive because the new, ultra-compact drive module being
developed in parallel, in-house, wasn't ready. " I don't think any other
company would be crazy enough to do that, " he said.
The Lucid team members are stalwarts of in-house development
for bar-raising technologies including exterior lighting, bi-directional
charging and the drive module. The latter integrates the power electronics,
e-motor and transmission into a beautifully compact, 74-kg
(160-lb.) package. Rated at 670 hp (500 kW), the drive module looks
tiny compared with the similar hardware from Tesla (Model 3) and
GM (Bolt) on display during SAE's visit.
" You cannot buy the technology that we've got, " Rawlinson
opined. " If all I wanted to do was another car, I would have done that
with suppliers. A whole bunch of [EV] startups and established OEs
are just buying stuff. But where is the value of a company that just
buys-in its motors, for example? For some items, of course, we're not
going to reinvent the wheel; Bosch does a great i-boost [braking]
system. Akebono does great foundation brakes. Pirelli and Michelin
do great tires for us. " The company also designs all of its printed circuit
assemblies (PCA).
Lucid's objective to advance the state of the art in EVs " sounds like
bullshit, but it's true, " Rawlinson said. " It's what is necessary to achieve
accelerated widespread adoption. " He believes electrification is a technology
race, with the first milestone (500-mile range) achieved. The next
milestone is significant cost reduction " so that the man in the street can
afford an electric car. " Added Hawkins: " We need to understand the entire
system, and every bottleneck within it. If we had somebody else design
an inverter for us, there is always some part that we can't control.
And if we can't control it, we can't optimize the entire system. With our
own technologies we have command over our destiny. "
April 2022 13
LUCID MOTORS
Automotive Engineering - April 2022

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