August 28th Throttle 🏎️💨

What’s up Throttle Heads 😎. Welcome back to another newsletter with some dope news and information for you all.

Lucid Is Planning Three Affordable Electric Cars

California-based Lucid Motors produces some of the most expensive yet state-of-the-art EVs. In my opinion, they are one of the few companies to rival Tesla when it comes to producing EVs. Personally, I like the styling of Lucid much better than Tesla as even though it is still very industrial, it has more soul than a Tesla. With the Lucid Air Sedan starting at $71,000 and the Gravity SUV (pictured above) starting at around $80,000 they are not cheap cars by any means. In a bid to gain more Market share, Lucid is reportedly considering planning three more affordable models.

These new models were confirmed in an interview with Carbuzz when Lucid Senior Vice President of Design and Brand, Derek Jenkins, said there will be three models in what Lucid calls its “mid-size program”. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson announced an SUV around the $50,000 price mark at a Lucid earnings call earlier this year. Based on trademark fillings, we can guess the mid-sized SUV will probably be called the Lucid Earth. Lucid will probably also produce a mid-size sedan just like the Model 3. Lucid will probably make some best-selling cars in this segment as their attention to detail and design truly one-up Tesla in every way possible.

Haas F1 Team Trucks Leave The Netherlands After Uralkali Payment

Formula One is nothing without drama and the latest iteration of this is the Haas F1 team trucks carrying their cars and other equipment being impounded at Zandvoort following the Dutch Grand Prix over the weekend. This was due to the fact the team had failed to pay Uralkali, the former title sponsor of the team after Haas severed relations with them due to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In June, a Swiss court ordered Haas to pay back the 9 million USD in sponsorship money they had received for the 2022 season. Haas had failed to do so until this weekend leading court bailiffs taking an inventory of team equipment on Thursday ahead of the race. When Haas failed to make the payment to Uralkali, the team’s equipment was impounded following the completion of the Dutch Grand Prix. This put Haas in a sticky situation as they were not sure if they would be able to compete at Monza this upcoming weekend. On Monday, Haas made the payment and announced their trucks had left the Netherlands for Italy. Hopefully, this delay will have little impact on the ability of Haas to perform in Monza this weekend.

EV Manufacturer Canoo Shifts HQ to Texas As More Executives Exit

EV startup Canoo has had one hell of a time over the past five years since unveiling their very unorthodox EVs. These include their Lifestyle Vehicle which looks like an Advil pill as well as a rather ugly snub-nosed pickup truck. Initially wanting their vehicles to be focused on the consumer segment of the market, Canoo quickly shifted their focus to the commercial segment in 2021. Since then, Canoo has only delivered a handful of vans to commercial fleets. According to reports from Techcrunch, Canoo is reportedly shuttering its Los Angeles office and moving its HQ to Justin, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Canoo will relocate 137 out of its 194 employees from California to either Texas or Oklahoma. Oklahoma is where Canoo plans to build a factory to produce its planned lineup of EVs. This move comes as Canoo is attempting to finally get its cars to market after the departure of several company big whigs. Most recently, this was Chief Technology Officer Sohel Merchant as well as two CEOs. If Canoo truly wants to succeed and bring its EVs to market, then it will need to do a lot more than just move its HQ. The company truly needs to restructure and be more efficient in its operations if it wants to be the Tesla of commercial vehicles.

Dodge Teases Next-Gen Challenger Pursuit

Speeders beware ‼️ Highway Patrol will soon have a new vehicle to chase you down with 🚨 Dodge has teased the police version of its new Charger on Instagram. Dubbed the Dodge Charger Pursuit, it will soon be coming to a Highway near you to throw Cannonball run attempts. Dodge posted the above photo on Instagram which keeps most of the styling under wraps. Most likely, the above model is the electric version but a straight-six version will also probably be offered. It will also likely be the four-door version as you don’t want a dangerous criminal riding shotgun.

I do see the gasoline-powered model representing the bulk of police sales as it will be a pain for agencies to be constantly having to recharge their car throughout the day. The gas version is powered by the 3.0 liter Hurricane Straight-Six which makes 420 or 550 horsepower depending on the trim level. The Charger Pursuit will also feature a slew of upgrades to make it ready for law-enforcement use such as bigger brakes and steel wheels. Dodge will likely release more info on the coming months and is probably already taking orders from law enforcement agencies.