Lucid Takes Autonomous Driving To The Next Level

Mar. 27, 2022 1:03 AM ET by Jarryd Neves Electric Vehicles / Comments

The company's DreamDrive system is about to get a whole lot smarter.

Lucid Motors has announced that its clever DreamDrive Pro driver-assistance system is set to offer even more features in the near future. This will be built upon Nvidia's Drive Hyperion technology, already available in the striking Lucid Air. The 32 sensor strong assistance system boasts 14 cameras, along with 1 lidar, 5 radar, and 12 ultrasonic units.

Additionally, the inspired dual-rail power system and Ethernet Ring boasts a high degree of redundancy for important controls, such as braking and steering. "The seamless integration of Nvidia's software-defined computer architecture and Drive OS provides a powerful basis for Lucid to further enhance what DreamDrive can do in the future - all of which can be delivered to vehicles over the air," said Lucid's Michael Bell, Senior VP of Digital.

Over-the-air updates will allow the electric carmaker to continuously improve vehicles, thereby bettering the abilities and safety of existing Air units. Hyperion is the latest iteration of Nvidia's Drive platform and will allow the Air and future vehicles, such as the Gravity, to be fitted with the latest in autonomous driving functions.

For now, this will, most likely, be limited to functions such as self-parking and, eventually, fully autonomous driving. Nvidia's VP of Automotive, Rishi Dhall, said: "By developing on Nvidia Drive, Lucid can deliver safe electric vehicles that are future-ready, with a customer experience that continues to get better and more capable with each software update."

The California-based automaker may be off to a good start, but remaining complacent is never an option in the challenging automotive segment. With rival Tesla currently trialing Full Self-Driving Suite (FSD), Lucid needs to be able to offer an equally appealing level of technology. Elsewhere, the brand hopes to expand its manufacturing capacity, with a planned expansion of its Casa Grande facility.

What's more, Lucid also hopes to break ground on a Saudi Arabian plant which, says the company, could bring as much as $3.4 billion of value to the company over the next decade and a half. However, it's not all smooth sailing; the semiconductor chip crisis has affected production, with the company having to reduce planned output from 20,000 to just 12,000-14,000 vehicles.

Lucid Takes Autonomous Driving To The Next Level

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Lucid Takes Autonomous Driving To The Next Level

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