Rivian R2, Lucid counter attack, and Tesla's 'Digital Optimus'
About this episode
The podcast dives into Tesla's struggles with its AI division XAI and the new 'digital optimist' AI project, highlighting leadership departures and funding concerns. Rivian's upcoming R2 SUV is detailed, showcasing competitive pricing and specs aimed at expanding their market presence. Lucid previews its next-gen mid-sized vehicles and a two-seater robo-taxi concept. Other topics include BYD's plans for Canadian manufacturing, Honda scrapping some US EV models, and the impact of rising oil prices on the EV market. The hosts also discuss dealership knowledge gaps, used EV depreciation, and skepticism around Tesla's full self-driving hardware upgrades.
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Rivian R2, Lucid's counterattack, and Tesla's 'Digital Optimus'.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Musk confirms xAI-Tesla joint ‘Digital Optimus’ project — after saying Tesla didn’t need xAI
- Rivian reveals full R2 lineup and pricing, starting at $57,990 with a $45K RWD model coming later
- Rivian is phasing out the R1S Dual Standard, its most affordable SUV, ahead of the R2
- Lucid (LCID) reveals Cosmos and Earth SUVs as first midsize EVs, starting under $50,000
- Lucid takes aim at the Tesla Cybercab with Lunar, a two-seat EV robotaxi concept
- BMW’s flagship i7 EV is getting a Neue Klasse upgrade: Here’s our first look
- BYD is open to building cars in Canada and acquiring a rival automaker
- BYD’s luxury EV with 5 min fast charging and nearly 500 miles of range is headed overseas
- Honda is scrapping three of its most important EVs for the US, including the Acura RSX
- Aptera (SEV) raises $6.3M through warrant exercise to fund solar electric vehicle validation
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
https://www.youtube.com/live/aLUDy28zGmw
Tesla Model X
"... is not a, you know, car that's jacked up like a model X, right? That's a, you know, all wheel drive off r..."
Tesla Model Y
"... So it's a fully featured SUV. It's not like the model Y is extremely well designed vehicle and very uter..."
Lucid Gravity
"...rth. So obviously you have the air, you have the gravity. I have Cosmos and earth. And these vehicles del..."
Z9 Denza Z9
"...alked a few weeks ago about the unveiling of the Denza Z9 GT, so it's the first vehicle to use the next gen..."
Honda Prologue
"...I saw that there was a denial from Honda for the prologue. So apparently the prologue is not dead. They say..."
Cadillac Lyric
"...u know, with Apple cars, which is also a Cadillac lyric. So there's like this one car is like 17 differe..."
Ford Lightnings
"... pretty clear that optimist is also the price of lightnings. Yeah, because it's going away. It's going away. ..."
Nissan Leaf
"...here was like a, they had it for like the Nissan Leaf. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember which on..."
Ford Maverick
"... All right. I have an all wheel drive hybrid Ford Maverick. I would consider changing it for a smaller size..."
Rolls-Royce Phantom
"... test of the discharge, the another, not even the phantom dream on it and a certain temperature, which was..."
Fisker Oceans
"... sense. All right, Gandalf asks, why are all the Fisker oceans in New York City? I see your half dozen minimum ..."
Rivian R1S
"...able to do that. And I would note that my Rivian R1S, if you put it in range mode, it would actually o..."
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.