To contain that power, the Lucid Air Sapphire comes with carbon-ceramic brakes as standard. The brakes themselves are made by Akebono, a company known for making brakes for the McLaren P1. The front setup uses 10-piston calipers while rear does it with a four-piston setup. There is also a track suspension included, along with staggered wheels wrapped in Michelin PS4S – 265/35R20 at front and 295/30R21 in the rear.

Of course, the performance through the corkscrew was impressive.  The Youtuber mentions the balanced driving dynamics of the Sapphire, despite the neck-snapping performance. The acceleration pulled hard across the entire RPM range while the brakes were aggressive in providing adequate stopping power. Naturally, The Stig ran with the traction control off which allows plenty of spin wheel on the track.

No word on the EV range after the hot laps. But the Lucid Air Dream Edition covers around 500 miles on a single charge. It’s likely that Air Sapphire will have a lower range, but no official info yet. The price for the Lucid Air Sapphire is $249,000.

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Both figures are literally miles away better than the Tesla Model S Long Range, which has a 405-mile rating with the 19-inch alloys and will go for 375 miles on the 21-inch set available at an additional cost. This sold-out Lucid Air Dream Edition Range is the most expensive of the bunch, carrying a sticker price of $169,000 and packing 933 horsepower.

Those looking for a more attainable version might want the Grand Touring available from $139,000. The lesser derivative packs 800 horsepower and it will still do 516 miles of range with the regular wheels or 469 miles if you decided to upgrade to the larger 21-inch set. Lucid Motors is also offering a Touring model with 620 hp and 406 miles for $95,000 as well as an entry-level Pure trim with 480 hp and 406 miles for $77,400.

If Tesla Model S Plaid-rivaling performance is what you’re after, the Lucid Air Dream Edition Performance can unleash a whopping 1,111 hp. It has enough battery juice for 471 miles or 451 miles depending on the wheel size and runs the quarter-mile in 9.9 seconds after hitting 60 mph in 2.5 seconds.

If everything goes according to plan, the first deliveries to customers will take place before the end of the year. The Lucid Air will be built at a new factory in Arizona following a 700$ million investment to get the facility ready for what is shaping up to be one of the most promising EVs to date.

Source: Lucid Motors

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We’ve known about the Lucid Air for a long time now, as the California-based brand has been teasing its products for a couple of years. However, the first ever real review of the top-end Lucid Air Dream Edition just went live on Motor Trend. Our friend Jonny Lieberman was fortunate enough to be the first member of the press to ever drive it. According to him, every brand is pretty much beat at the moment.

The top-end Lucid Air Dream Edition comes in two flavors; R and P. The former stands for “Range” and the latter for “Performance”. The Air Dream Edition R gets 933 horsepower from its two electric motors and 113 kWh battery pack and around 500 miles of range. While the Air Dream Edition P gets 1,111 horsepower and around 450 miles of range. Interestingly, both are exactly the same price. So, as a customer, you just choose what you prioritize more; range or power.

Lieberman was only able to test the Lucid Air Dream Edition R, with the higher range. He also tested in its middle setting; there are Smooth, Swift, and Sprint to choose from, with Smooth and Swift using 670 horsepower and Sprint getting the full 933 horses. Interestingly, due to a miscommunication, Lieberman thought his Lucid Air made 804 horsepower in its Swift mode, as that’s how much power the performance model makes in Swift. And yet, he never questioned the 804 horsepower, which proves just how bonkers fast the Ludic Air really is.

In fact, Lieberman’s comparison was a four-door, luxury Nissan GT-R, due to its insane grip, power, and precision. It’s said to have great steering, a lovely ride, incredible performance, and shockingly good body control for a 5,000 lb-plus sedan. Which makes sense, considering the CEO and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) of Lucid is Peter Rawlinson, who was formerly the chief engineer at both Tesla and Lotus. His experience at the former helped him create a great EV but it’s his experience at the latter that helped him turn the great EV into a great driver’s car.

During their drive, Lieberman took the Lucid Air from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which is about 350 miles, at normal speeds, air conditioning on, and without trying to hypermile it. However, they didn’t take a super direct route and stopped off for lunch at around 205 miles in. After that, they still needed to drive 204 miles to get to their destination, a vintage watch shop. And they made it, the full 409 miles, without stopping to charge once. That bests the Tesla Model S Long Range’s hypermile-range by four miles.

Even better still, they drove an additional 36 miles to Lucid’s headquarters in Newark, California. But here’s the real kicker: Lieberman’s Air still had 69 miles miles of range left on its battery. If its onboard system is to be trusted, that would total 475 miles of range, without doing a crazy hypermiling attempt.

It’s hard to read Lieberman’s review of the Lucid Air Dream Edition and not come away with a ton of excitement for the brand. It’s not just the power, specs, and incredible range. It’s the fact that it combines all of those things in a great looking package, with an absolutely fantastic interior, and surprisingly good handling. If you’re even slightly interested in cars, check out this review because the Ludic Air Dream Edition is an absolute game changer.

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Starting at $69,900 (after tax credits), the Lucid Air Pure — the entry-level model — packs a very healthy 480 horsepower and 406 miles of range. It must be said that the range is just Lucid’s claimed range and not its EPA-tested range, so that’s subject to change. However, the range for BMW’s iX is just a claimed range as well, so that’s all we can go by at the moment. Plus, Lucid’s execs are extremely confident that their claimed ranges will match the EPA’s tested ranges.

Considering that Lucid has been one of the developers for Formula E battery packs, there’s a good chance that the California-based manufacturer knows a thing or two about battery development. It also seems to know a thing or two about charging. Thanks to its 900-volt electrical architecture, the Air can charge up to 300 miles in just 20 minutes. Of course, there’s a caveat — to get that insanely fast charging speed, you need to use a 350 kWh DC fast charger, which is near-impossible to find at the moment. Admittedly, Lucid will sell you one for you home, called the “Wunderbox”, so you can take advantage of that blistering charging speed at home, even if you can’t out on the road.

Still, with 406 miles of range, you’re not likely to ever need to charge outside of your home. And if you can afford a $70,000 electric car, you can likely afford the Wunderbox. The Lucid Air is also the only car that can charge that quickly and it isn’t just down to its 350 kW charging speed. Tesla is working on that speed as well, however its chargers can only reach that peak speed for a very short amount of time. The Lucid Air is capable of 350 kWh for longer, hence the shorter charge time, due to advanced thermal battery management. Essentially, Lucid can keep its batteries cooler as they charge, so they can charge faster for longer.

Compare that charging speed to the BMW iX’s 150 kW charging and the Bavarian seems seriously behind the times. Not only is does the iX charge slower but it has 100 fewer miles of range, with around the same power but costing $30,000 more. The BMW iX’s flagship specs; 300 miles of range and 500 horsepower, are only going to be available on the top-shelf, six-figure car. The iX that will cost around BMW X5-money (between $60,000-$70,000) is going to have around 250 miles and 350 horsepower. So the Lucid will be the better value.

Admittedly, in BMW’s defense, its upcoming i4 will be a bit closer to the Air in terms of both its spec sheet and its body style, while also coming in at a lower price. Expect the BMW i4 to start somewhere around $50,000 but will only have a range of around 250 miles. While that’s an inferior range, the i4 is likely going to come in at around $20,000 cheaper than the Lucid Air, so its value proposition evens out a bit.

Still, the Lucid Air packs a more advanced electrical architecture and faster charging. Also, and this is entirely subjective, the Lucid looks better. It has a classic retro-futuristic French car look that I really like and its interior also looks very slick and modern.

While BMW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen all try and take down Tesla, it seems that Lucid might be lobbing a monkey wrench into everyone’s plans. This new Air seems like a seriously impressive EV for a reasonable price.

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Here is the actual pricing for the different options of the Lucid Air:

• The Air, the starting point for the lineup, available in 2022 and starting below $80,000 ($72,500 after federal tax credit)
• The Air Touring model, available late 2021, from $95,000 ($87,500 after federal tax credit)
• The Air Grand Touring, available mid 2021, from $139,000 ($131,500 after federal tax credit)
• The Air Dream Edition, available spring 2021, at $169,000 ($161,500 after federal tax credit)

In comparison, the Tesla Model S has a price range of $75,000 to $111,500, fully equipped.

Furthermore, here is the rundown on some of the specs:

• 113 kWh battery pack
• 517 miles of range
• 20-miles of range per minute of charging (DC fast charger)
• 60 percent of range in 20 minutes of charging
• 1,080 horsepower
• 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds
• a quarter-mile in 9.9 seconds
• 280-liter frunk
• 32-sensor advanced driving assistance system, including cameras, radar, ultrasonic, and LIDAR

Lucid is now accepting refundable reservations for the Air: $1,000 for the base model, $7,500 for the Dream edition. The company will begin deliveries In spring 2021. The vehicles will presumedly roll off the assembly at Lucid’s still-under-construction 820,000 square foot factory in Casa Grande, Ariz.

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In this modern era of electric cars, there are a lot of boastful claims, from both legacy brands and new upstarts, that are almost never met in reality. So we’re going to have to wait to see the Lucid Air actually put its money where its mouth is when it debuts on September 9. Having said that, Lucid Motors is confident that it will meet all of its lofty claims and its credentials do suggest that it can.

The Lucid Air is a monstrous electric sedan, with a maximum power output of 1,080 horsepower from two electric motors. But that’s nothing compared to the rest of its specs. Lucid Motors develops its own electric drive units in-house and they’re more advanced than any other on the market.

The ultra-efficient permanent-magnet electric motor used in the Lucid Air is combined with its own inverter, transmission and differential to create a compact drive unit that weights just 163 lbs (74 kg) and, according to Lucid, is small enough to fit into an overhead carry-on bag. Power? Lucid claims each drive unit is capable of 650 horsepower and 20,000 rpm.

It gets even better. The Lucid Air uses a 900-volt architecture, combined with what the brand calls its “Wunderbox” on-board charging unit. The charging unit is capable of charging at a variety of different voltages and is said to be capable of adding 300 miles of range in just 20 minutes when using a DC fast charger. That’s light-years ahead of its competition, if true. Lucid has also partnered with Electrify America and claims its 350kW DC fast chargers can handle that charging speed.

How much total range does the Lucid Air have? According to the California-based brand, a whopping 517 miles of range. That range isn’t EPA-tested but Lucid representatives are confident the EPA rating will match. What’s shocking about that number is that it comes from a 113 kWh battery pack, which isn’t much larger than the battery pack found in the Tesla Model S 100D Super Long Range Extra King-Sized Plus (or whatever it’s called now), yet has more than 100 miles of range.

These are extreme claims and, if true, would make the Lucid Air the most incredible EV sedan on the planet. However, it actually has the credentials to back up its claims. Lucid has been using motorsport-derived technology for its EV motors, just as brands like BMW, Porsche and Ferrari used to use back in the day. Lucid has a technology sub-division called Atieva, which has actually been designing, developing and manufacturing the battery packs for Formula E since 2018. So the brand is on the cutting edge of automotive battery technology.

As for price, nothing is announced just yet. Lucid has maintained that the entry-level car will start at $60,000, just don’t expect it to have the aforementioned specs. However, even at $150,000, the Lucid Air would dominate the industry. We can’t wit until September 9 to see what’s to come from Newark, California.

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In the last decade that value has been reached or exceeded by many cars, electric and non-electric, and is now pretty much the standard.

Now, however, the new Lucid Air, coming on September 9, marks a new record, with a Cx of 0.21.

The new Californian electric sedan, recently presented in its definitive guise, wins the title as the “normal” car with the best aerodynamics in the world. Some supercars can do some things better, but among the cars in its category none can even get close.

The Model 3, for example, which is the Tesla with the best Cx, stops at 0.23, which it’s not bad at all, to be honest.

Making the necessary proportions, the aerodynamic efficiency of the Lucid Air is 9.5% better than the Tesla Model 3. This ultra-low Cx value improves the car’s range and speed. The Lucid Air can travel more than 650 km on a single 100% charge and can reach a max speed of 378 km/h (one of the fastest cars on the market).

Now, there’s no need to say how important aerodynamics is on a zero-emission car. Aerodynamic coefficient and weight are the two main variables when it comes to increase a car’s autonomy.

It must be said, however, that battery-powered cars are more likely to have a better Cx than cars with classic petrol engines.

Electric cars don’t need any cooling systems, they don’t need grilles on the front and the hood doesn’t have to host a physical engine. These factors allow electric cars to have lower and more aerodynamic hoods that allow the air to flow smoothly.

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