Car Design Review 9: Derek Jenkins, Lucid

It’s broadly understood now by designers what the opportunities with electrification and vehicle architecture look like and everybody’s addressing those in their own ways. I think that will have a natural and somewhat aggressive progression over the next years, and I let that lead how I approach design. That’s part of what good modern design is: taking the technology at hand and exploiting it to the greatest advantage possible for the customer, for design and for functionality. We’re in a magic time in that regard.

What continues to drive us at Lucid is how we bring efficiency into the vehicle from both an exterior and dynamic standpoint and how we create a sense of space throughout. We’re leaning even more towards minimalism now, thinking about how we can we clean things up and get even closer to the essence of the fundamental functionality of the design. Architecture becomes a big driver there, but I think we’re leaning even more into our ‘mid-century modern’ kind of inspiration on the interior with clean lines, soft volumes and simplicity.

We now have the complete line-up of Lucid Air variants on the road, starting with the entry-level Pure version, as well as the new Stealth trim, which will help broaden the appeal of the Air to the ‘sport luxury’ consumer. Sapphire trim follows that, which really seals the deal in terms of next-level EV performance and capability. After that, you’ll see our Gravity SUV, which is an evolution of the Air and there’s definitely a strong mid-century furniture presence in its design too.

Now that the Air is being delivered to customers and people are seeing it on the road, we’re getting great feedback and that’s really important for me. I’ve spent time in our retail spaces and taken part in deliveries, engaging with both new and current customers. It’s thrilling to get affirmation about what drew them to Lucid and helps me correlate that with going back to what we first envisioned the customer to be and what would get them excited about buying the vehicle. More often than not, we were on target with our ambitions of how consumers would react, but likewise, after people have lived with the car, they give us feedback on things they’d like to see improved, or features we may not have considered. We take that very seriously and those findings carry forward into future product, such as the user experience and infotainment system for our Gravity model.

Fundamental areas we continue to look at include the sustainability and durability of our materials. That’s super-important in the luxury segment. As we look forward to the Gravity programme and beyond, sustainability will take on an even more important role, with a big focus on textiles. The Lucid Air uses textiles in a really great way, and we will continue to use materials authentically, as opposed to just synthetic leathers and grains. It’s also about what we can do with decor besides the obvious aluminium and wood trim. We have some things in development which I’m extremely excited about that are maybe somewhat unexpected, but feel very premium.

Beyond that, it’s how we evolve the user experience across our display architecture and get more features into the vehicle without creating distraction. For me, the next frontier is really the experience itself. What are the proprietary experiences that each company is going to be known for, that evoke an emotional or pleasurable reaction from drivers? What are the unique experiences going to be? That’s so important because it drives a further emotional connection with customers and is a reason for them to come back to that brand again and again, as we do with other devices and ecosystems in our lives. It’s a difficult thing to do because it requires a multi-hardware and -software approach, as well as potential partnerships. Design has a real role to play in curating and innovating these new experiences we don’t have today, beyond just streaming video and playing games.

Aerodynamics is another crucial element of our design philosophy. We aren’t treating that as an afterthought but really letting it drive the core concept of the vehicle. If companies aren’t contending with that, they’re going to stick more batteries in their vehicles which will make the car heavier and take up more space. In order for the world to really take advantage of electrification from a sustainability and environmental standpoint, we need to use less energy per mile. If you’re stuffing in a bigger battery pack to go a respectable distance, is that really better than a petrol or diesel car? I’m not totally convinced. So I’m a big believer in drag coefficient and awesome design through aerodynamics. It’s a challenge that designers should take seriously. If you embrace it, it will drive you into a new aesthetic.

That said, I’m still a classic car guy. It’s the reason I choose to live in Los Angeles and commute to the Bay Area. LA is this tremendously inspiring place with constant exposure to automotive, mobility, motorcycles, electrification, customisation – you name it. It keeps my enthusiasm alive. I’m also thrilled to see how the grassroots custom scene is embracing electrification, because I think that also influences a lot of what’s going on design-wise, even amongst the OEs. This is just such an amazing time in our industry, and I think all of us in the design community should be thankful that we’re able to have the impact we’re having at this moment in time. If we flash forward 10 or 20 years, this will be seen as such a time of rapid change and a real catalyst moment.