Lucid

California-based luxury-electric automaker Lucid is advancing electric vehicle (EV) technology to create not just an exceptional EV, but an outstanding car overall. Its tagline, “Compromise Nothing,” embodies this pursuit of perfection.

“We compromise nothing by obsessing over everything, down to the millimeter and down to the tenth of a gram,” said Paul Lomangino, Lucid’s director of product lifecycle management and engineering tools. “For example, we have an obsessive focus on efficiency. That means reducing drag – whether it’s mechanical drag or aerodynamic drag – to minimize battery consumption. This creates a virtuous cycle: a smaller battery means lower weight, lower cost and greater efficiency. And as we reduce waste, we improve reliability and performance.”

The result of Lucid’s obsession with detail is the Lucid Air series – a range of vehicles that have delivered on a set of promises that no other car company has obtained. For example, taking the accolade for the most energy efficient vehicle in the world, the Lucid Air Pure boasts an estimated 420 mile (675 kilometer) range from a battery pack that is just 84 kilowatt-hours. Meanwhile, the Lucid Air Sapphire - described by Dan Neil of The Wall Street Journal as a “modern design masterpiece” – takes the title of the world’s fastest production four-door sedan, with 0-60 mph acceleration of 1.89 seconds and completing a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) in 8.93 seconds. Lucid Air recently was joined by Lucid Gravity – an SUV lineup that, according to Lomangino, is just as impressive.

“The Lucid Air and the Lucid Gravity are, in my mind, second to none,” Lomangino said. “The Lucid Air has won pretty much every major automotive award since its inception. It has amazing power, amazing quality and an amazing driver experience. It’s going to take the world by storm.” 

Engineering and then producing record-breaking EVs is quite an accomplishment – and Lucid has achieved it with help from Dassault Systèmes solution. “The 3DEXPERIENCE® platform supports our obsessive view of our products and our obsession with quality, down to the smallest detail,” Lomangino said.

Lucid chose the Dassault Systèmes technology, including CATIA for design, ENOVIA for product data management and DELMIA for manufacturing planning, to help it stay nimble – a trait Lomangino believes is essential to success in the EV industry. “We need to respond to challenges quickly,” he said. “So, for example, whether there’s a shift in technology, in customer demand, or even in the availability of parts in the supply chain, we need to be resilient and have the ability to react quickly and in a robust manner.”

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform acts as a single source of truth for the tens of thousands of data points that make up Lucid’s vehicles. By connecting design, engineering and manufacturing with a single digital thread, the same real-time information is accessible by everyone at Lucid. “The 3DEXPERIENCE platform gives us a common language,” Lomangino said. “It minimizes translation and eliminates the need to export data for compatibility. Everything we need is there in the platform.” 

Since they are all working from a centralized source of truth, major stakeholders from across the company can collaborate in a clear and concise way. “Not only design engineers, but experts from various engineering disciplines,” Lomangino said. “Manufacturing, supply chain, service. Everybody participates and talks through the Dassault Systèmes platform.”

For a young company that is scaling incredibly quickly, this ability to ensure seamless collaboration is particularly useful. “We have a diverse team,” Lomangino said. “Some of our engineers are straight out of school, while others have years of experience in the automotive industry. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform helps us establish a standard way of working that ensures consistency both in manufacturing and downstream processes.”

The benefits of implementing the Dassault Systèmes technologies don’t end here. Lucid also makes use of key applications on the platform to optimize its production processes so that they run like clockwork. By leveraging CATIA and ENOVIA to create an engineering bill of materials (EBOM) which flows into the manufacturing bill of material (MBOM) and a bill of process (BOP) in DELMIA, the company has a master definition of its vehicles that can help procurement teams source the right components and a detailed plan for manufacturing.

“Dassault Systèmes tools have been instrumental in bringing our cars to production,” Lomangino said. “DELMIA helps us to see what the car is supposed to look like, and how we are supposed to assemble it. The platform reduces time, effort and opportunities for error.”

As a result of his experiences, Lomangino wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Dassault Systèmes solutions to other companies driving to develop innovative, sustainable products. “I’ve used the 3DEXPERIENCE platform throughout my entire career at Lucid,” he said. “Over that time, we have worked with Dassault Systèmes and its partners in the value chain. This gives us a wealth of resources that we can tap into for various projects. For any company looking to improve cross-discipline and cross-system collaboration, I would strongly recommend investigating the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.”