Finally…Legit Tesla Rivals Emerge

A handful of car companies are rolling out major challenges to Tesla’s EV primacy in 2021.

- BENGT HALVORSON

AS FAR as punchlines go, it was a quirky one: $69,420.

Delivered by CEO Elon Musk on Oct. 14, that’s the new price of Tesla’s Model S. Whether or not you get the joke depends on how in touch you are with the high-stakes battle currently underway for supremacy in the U.S. electric car market. While the yuks were on-brand—Musk’s humor runs from geeky to subversive to whoopee cushion—the unexpected price cut indicated that, for once, Musk is taking one of Tesla’s rivals seriously.

Earlier Lucid Motors had announced its debut, an electric car called the Air, would sell for $69,900 ( factoring in a $7,500 federal EV tax credit), at the time undercutting the price of the Model S. With a more luxurious cabin, Lucid claims its base-model Air can cover 406 EPA-cycle miles on a single charge—more than the highest-range Model S.