Lucid Motors spikes 20% in public debut as CEO says it's well-positioned to compete with Tesla

• Shares of Lucid Motors spiked as much as 20% in its trading debut on Monday.
• The electric vehicle manufacturer completed its merger with SPAC Churchill Capital on Friday.
• Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson told CNBC it is well-positioned to compete with Tesla.
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Lucid Motors surged as much as 20% in its public debut on Monday, having completed its SPAC merger with Churchill Capital on Friday.

Lucid is seen as a Tesla competitor with its high-end luxury electric vehicles, and CEO Peter Rawlinson told CNBC on Monday that it is well positioned to compete with the undisputed leader.

Rawlinson pointed out that the $4.4 billion it raised in its SPAC merger pales in comparison to the $300 million Tesla raised when it went public in 2010, putting Lucid in an "enviable position" relative to Tesla's early days.

"That's a resounding difference," Rawlinson said, adding that its fundraising puts Lucid in a "great position for strategic growth." The company will use the proceeds raised in its public merger to expand its production capabilities.

Rawlinson said the company has enough cash runway through the end of 2022, and that it is on track to begin making customer deliveries later this year. Rawlinson reiterated that Lucid is also on track to meet its projected EV deliveries over the next two years.

But even if Lucid Motors meets its vehicle production targets, it will still take many years for the company to catch up to Tesla's current annual vehicle delivery rate of about 1 million. Lucid projects delivering less than 1,000 vehicles in 2021, and about 20,000 vehicles in 2022.

Lucid Motors is staking its early success on the Air model, a luxury electric sedan that is projected to have a range of more than 500 miles on a single charge. The company said its has over 11,000 paid reservations for the Air.