Why Tesla Co-Founder Martin Eberhard Is Disappointed With Lucid But Impressed By This EV Startup

Tesla Inc. TSLA co-founder Martin Eberhard, who has had a not-so-cordial relationship with Elon Musk, offered his thoughts on the new breed of electric vehicle makers in a recent interview.

What Happened: Unlike tech companies, the auto industry is not a “winner-take-all industry,” Eberhard said in an interview with Business Insider. He reportedly said he is disappointed by certain companies such as Lucid Group Inc. LCID.

See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

Newark, California-based Lucid is striving to lock horns with Tesla’s Model S with the Lucid Air, a similar electric sedan, he said.

Eberhard reportedly said he worked for Lucid, when it was known as Atieva in 2015, and left after just six weeks as he was not a “big fan” of its CEO.

Impressed With Rivian: Eberhard, however, is more impressed with companies such as Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN.

"Rivian has looked out there and said, 'You know, the No. 1-selling vehicle in North America is the F-150 truck. So if we want to find a new market, that's a lucrative place to work,'" Eberhard reportedly said.

Incidentally, Rivian was the first to launch an electrified pickup truck, ahead of Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 Lightning EV. The EV startup, which began delivering the R1T EV pickup truck in late-2021, produced about 24,337 units and delivered 20,332 of those.

Eberhard’s sentiment echoes the views of Barclays analyst Dan Levy, who said in a recent note, “if we were to identify any of the start-up EWV automakers as the closest to Tesla, we believe it would be RIVN.”

Levy has an Overweight rating on Rivian shares and a $28 price target.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Read Next: Rivian Now Has Highest Range EV Pickup Truck In Market: How It Compares To Ford's F-150 Lightning And Tesla's Cybertruck