Can Lucid Be the Next Tesla?

The answer very well could be a resounding “Yes!”

Notice how we said “the next Tesla.” That’s a very important distinction because it’s not saying that $Lucid Group (LCID.US)$ will displace or dethrone Tesla as the EV leader. It’s simply a question of whether another disruptor can enter the space and carve out a dominant position within it.

It’s debatable whether it’s easier now ten years after $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ forged its way into the auto industry — or if it’s harder.

On the one hand, Tesla has done a bulk of the heavy lifting. It transformed consumers’ view of electric vehicles and forced traditional automakers to make investments in the space. Charging companies, increased infrastructure spending on EV and far better technology has resulted.

Tesla’s the 800-lb gorilla in the room — or if you’d rather, the $1 trillion company — and has multiple global production facilities, impressive growth, robust financials and a massive lead in the EV market.

Looking past Tesla, there’s a whole host of new EV-specific companies in the space. They include several SPACs, but there’s also $NIO Inc (NIO.US)$ , $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$ , $Fisker (FSR.US)$ , $XPeng (XPEV.US)$ , presumably $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and others. Then there’s the entire traditional auto space, which has a near-endless budget and now knows it has to go hard into electric vehicles if it wants to have a chance.

In short, competition will be the most difficult it’s ever been.