Lucid Group Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new driver assistance system for its cars that's designed to address a key shortcoming of the similar technology offered by rival Tesla Inc.
When a driver of Lucid vehicle isn't paying attention while the system is engaged, the feature will pull the car over.
That's something that Tesla's technology, which it calls "Full Self-Driving," doesn't do. The electric vehicle giant has come under increasing fire as numerous accidents and deaths have been linked to drivers of its vehicles not paying attention while its assistance systems are operating.
Lucid's Highway Assist technology includes an infrared camera that tracks a driver's head position, the gaze of the driver's eyes and the rate at which they're blinking. If the system detects that a driver has taken his or her hands off the wheel, it is designed to prompt the driver to return their hands to the wheel immediately.
If the driver doesn't respond, Highway Assist is designed to slow the car to a complete stop, activate the emergency brake, turn on hazard lights, emit a high-pitched beep and unlock the doors so that emergency responders can access the occupants.
All of this is part of a system that Lucid (Nasdaq:LCID) calls "DreamDrive." While it doesn't have all of the features of what Tesla calls "Full Self-Driving," it appears to be aimed at avoiding the concerns raised by its rival's self-driving technology.
Tesla is under increasing pressure from regulators and legislators who say the name "Full Self-Driving" is misleading and dangerous because it may lead people to believe they don't need to pay attention.
Lucid said a technology called Highway Pilot that is closer to what Tesla (Nasdaq:TSLA) offers will become available sometime in the future. For now, its Highway Assist group of features blend adaptive cruise control and lane-centering control designed to keep its cars operating at a safe distance from vehicles that are ahead and in other lanes.
It also includes a feature Lucid calls "Traffic Jam Assist," designed to operate at speeds between 0 and 40 miles per hour, aiding in centering the vehicle when lane lines are occluded by close traffic.
Lucid said that its driver-assist features interpret data from many as 32 sensors, including what it says is the first automotive installation of lidar in North America. While the laser-guided sensors have been widely tested on public roads by autonomous vehicles for years, the company said this is the first time they have been put on a car sold here to the public. Lucid declined to say who it is buying its lidar sensors from.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has derided the use of lidar as a "crutch." His company is working on a full self-driving software update based solely on using camera technology.
In addition to lidar, Lucid Air's driver-assist sensors also include 14 visible-light cameras, five radar units, four surround-view cameras and ultrasonic sensors throughout the vehicle exterior.
"Together, these sensors enable DreamDrive to detect what a human driver cannot, and act as an invisible co-pilot to help drivers get to their destination safely," the company said in Tuesday's announcement.
Lucid's first batch of vehicles are projected to be delivered to customers by the end of the month, starting with its top-of-the-line Air Dream Edition, which costs $169,000. DreamDrive will be standard on the Dream Edition and on the company's $139,000 Grand Touring Edition, which will be next off of its Arizona assembly line.
DreamDrive will be an option on other editions of the car that are slated to begin delivery next year. The company said it hasn't determined the price for the option yet.
