Knowing that the world around them is changing, almost every traditional automaker has redefined their business as 'mobility'. It's a nice word, but what does it mean? It's actually just a catch all phrase that hedges their bets. They are hedging their bets by dabbling in new powertrain technologies like electric or hydrogen and business models like car sharing and subscription services.
But instead of jumping in with both feet and leading the inevitable revolution, they are
treating these new initiatives as contingency plans for an uncertain future. They are largely ignoring society's changing needs by sticking to their core offerings. And they are hoping like crazy that if they close their eyes and drag their feet, they can slow down the change and milk the legacy business that they are so heavily invested in for as long as they can...and hoping that the new wave of start ups will run out of capital before they can make a difference.
Are they right, or will they end up up like Kodak or Sears, by waiting too long for change? Thus far, Tesla is the only start up that has reached a level of success, but even Tesla is struggling to move from niche to mainstream. So will there be another breakout start up?
Much will depend on the approach that they take. Likely the one that strips away as many of the vestiges of the traditional car business to squarely address future needs states will be the one that wins. Lucid, SF Motors, Faraday Future, and the newest, Evelozity have all stated that they are out to revolutionize the industry.
What approach is each taking?
Lucid Motors
- Lucid promises 'a new era of luxury mobility' by offering 'forward-looking design with groundbreaking technology to establish an entirely new class of vehicle, one with unparalleled comfort, performance, and convenience'. They will launch with the Lucid Air, starting at $60,000. The car is expected to be built in a Lucid factory in Arizona.
- SF Motors is offering 'premium seamlessly connected vehicles' to 'transform human mobility though intelligent EV's'. They will offer 2 models, the SF7 and SF5, both shaped like 'traditional luxury cars', to be built in one of two of SF motors factories, in the US and China.
- Faraday Future is offering 'A New Species of premium, seamlessly connected electric vehicles'. They are slated to launch the FF91 by the end of 2018 in China for around $300,000. Faraday Future has broken ground on its factory in California.
- Evelozity is offering 'Urban mobility vehicles for modern urban life'. They will offer 3 purpose built vehicles: one personal urban vehicle that will eschew the traditional '3 box' design and will cost under $50,000, one designed for last mile delivery, and the third designed specifically for ride hailing. Evelozity will be outsourcing manufacturing.
Lucid, SF, and Faraday Future, all sporting similar designs, appear to be trying to 'out Tesla' Tesla, by offering more sophisticated luxury EV's. And while they may turn out to be better than Tesla, are they really addressing the changing needs of society that are bigger than electric? And can they beat the odds to avoid succumbing to the enormous capital requirements that have thwarted so many automotive start up dreams? Time will tell.
Evelozity, on the other hand is starting by looking at future transportation needs and organizing its portfolio of offerings around those specific needs. And despite raising an initial $1 billion dollars, it has chosen not to burn that capital on a manufacturing facility. Perhaps, then Evelozity could really accelerate the inevitable change that traditional automakers hope will never come, because they seem to be the only one solving real needs with real solutions.
