Lucid – Super EV cars finally arrived

Top luxury EV cars from Lucid finally arrived with longest range, fastest charging luxury car in
the world. With incredible horsepower and an unrivaled range of up to 520 miles per charge, it’s like no car you’ve ever known. All packed into an elegantly efficient design – inspired by California. The cabin is filled with interesting materials, including both leather and high-quality fabrics, and the general layout is clean and uncluttered. As with other new EVs, screens abound, with the dashboard sprouting a 34-inch display that covers standard gauge cluster stuff in addition to a unique infotainment system I didn’t get any time to fiddle with. A center console screen covers vehicle functions, climate control, all the other usual things. Perhaps the weirdest part of it all is that the electric steering column can only be moved via this display, which feels unnecessarily complicated. Lucid’s adaptive dampers lack the outright pillowy nature of an air-based setup, but the suspension does a commendable job absorbing highway expansion joints in both Smooth and Swift modes, and it holds the Air’s body nice and flat during off-ramp cloverleaf hustling. Sadly, my limited time with the Air was strictly structured, so I’ll need another crack at the car to truly evaluate the difference between vehicle variables.

Acceleration alone may provide the Lucid Air with the initial impressions that puts bodies through the front door, but no car company can survive on that alone. Thankfully, Lucid has more to offer than the same G-force experiences as its primary competitors. If the tech proves as nice as the initial impressions, the Air should provide a more uniquely styled, expressive model against the when-did-they-make-this-design-again Model S and the melted-egg-business-suit EQS. Lucid’s dream is becoming a reality. On Tuesday, the automaker sent its first production cars off the assembly line and on their way for final inspection before customer deliveries. It marks yet another milestone for the young company that nearly ceased to exist just a few years ago. Today, the company said it has 13,000 preorders for its sedan.Production kickoff follows the EPA validating the company’s Air Dream Edition for a whopping 520 miles of range; Lucid championed this internal range rating for a while, but with the feds signing off on the estimate, it gives the company a lot of firepower to potentially peel off Tesla owners. In addition, before production cars began leaving the line, Lucid received final approval for all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. With all of that said, Lucid’s ready to build and sell cars.

Yes, the Air is quick, but anything with 933 hp will be quick even if the curb weight eclipses 5,000 pounds. A single-speed transmission means there’s nothing but forward motion, so it feels closer to a Tesla Model S or Mercedes-Benz EQS than a Porsche Taycan and its two-speed box. The Air pulls with authority well beyond double digits, unless you’re a cop, in which case I drove the speed limit the whole time. Survival, then, is predicated on whether or not the car in question can offer its owners something above and beyond raw g-forces, something other automakers don’t have.Lucid’s CEO/CTO is a Welshman named Peter Rawlinson who showed up to our drive wearing racing boots. He was previously Lotus chief engineer as well as chief engineer for the Tesla Model S. Rawlinson’s ideal car rides like a Mercedes-Benz S-Class and drives like a Lotus. He feels strongly that the key to electric cars is the miniaturization of their parts. The original Tesla Model S P85 rear-drive unit weighs 295 pounds and produces about 416 horsepower, for a power density of 1.41 hp per pound. The Air uses the same motor front and rear; each weighs 163 pounds yet can produce 670 horsepower (and spins at 20,000 rpm) for a power density of 4.11 hp per pound. That’s nearly three times better. Also, unlike Tesla, Lucid bothered to put a proper interior in its car.

The 2022 lucid air looks good, especially kitted out in Eureka Gold. The stainless-steel-look roof brings a little bit of DeLorean nostalgia to mind, and the overall effect is something like a Citroën DS redesigned for Blade Runner. Some folks have criticized the design for being too simplistic, but there’s purposeful futurism to the form that pops in person. Lucid initially offers the Air only in black, white, or gold; I’ve seen the Air in a deep oxblood burgundy, however, and that also looks fantastic. Maybe Lucid’s first-ever car doesn’t translate well into two dimensions, but in person the Air is distinctive even if it’s not quite stunning.

Barbara Summers

Reporter