Lucid Air: Luxury EV like nothing you have ever seen

Electric Vehicles are picking up headlines across the globe. While traditional car manufacturers like Ford and GMC are slowly shifting their focus away from ICE vehicles to Electric Vehicles. New age companies like Tesla and Rivian have taken over the market by storm, now add one more name to that list, Lucid Motor. Lucid Group is an American Luxury Electric Vehicle manufacturer founded in 2007 and headquartered in Newark, California.

Lucid Motor has been in news for quite a long time for showcasing its luxury EV product portfolio. Like other carmakers, they have also struggled with global supply chain challenges and had to delay their launch. Things are moving back on track slowly but the automaker is ramping up its manufacturing and assembly lines to handle the demand in the market.

The Lucid Air is the company’s production-ready car and looks amazing on paper. lucid has also managed to add some interesting bits to its variants. They come in multiple options with a lot of customizable stuff. Let’s find out more about the luxury electric car.

Lucid Air Design and Build

Lucid has introduced a brand new Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP). This platform miniaturizes everything to create more room and gives you a sense of space. This space-saving design embarks on a new era and efficiency, comfort and luxury. The Air’s frame uses bonded aluminium for its structural rigidity. The outer shell of this vehicle is designed to offer the most aerodynamics a car can have, with a drag coefficient of 0.21.

Lights

The Lucid Air’s lights both at the front as well as at the rear are entirely designed in-house. There are intelligent microlenses arranged in an array to give a stunning look to the headlights.

The rear light is a sweeping speedform which gives an uninterrupted impression of light & depth.

Interior

The new platform allowed Lucid Air to accomplish roominess in the cabin. Despite the mid-size exterior, the interior feels spacious. It is not only roomy but also offers a number of luxurious features like heated massaging seats. The quality of materials used inside the cabin feels super comfortable and it is customizable as well. The interior aesthetics of lucid Air are meant to offer a premium feel and it comes with different theme options: Santa Monica, Mojave, Santa Cruz, or Tahoe.

The darker colour in the front emphasizes control, while lighter colours at the rear give a sense of relaxation. A variety of fabrics, leathers, and textiles are carefully chosen to complement each theme.

Dashboard

The dashboard design of Lucid Air is quite interesting with multiple displays occupying the front. A 34-inch floating curve panel around the driver seat presents a 5K resolution. Lucid call it the Glass Cockpit which strategically displays information right in front of you. There is a retractable central pilot panel too which allows more controls without too much hassle. This panel glides away to open up hidden storage.

The Pilot Panel provides customisation at your fingertips while the Glass Cockpit display presents information on a crisp, clear UI. The vehicle comes with Surreal Sound™, a 21-speaker immersive audio system that is available from Lucid. The wave-inspired speakers to ambient lighting follow natural rhythms. All these systems are seamlessly integrated within the vehicle.

Connectivity

Like any other modern car, Lucid Air also comes with a range of connectivity features. You get a wholesome experience from the crisp, clean design of the UI, to facial recognition and voice-activated Alexa. As soon as you decide to drive your lucid, you open your app. You can plan a trip, send directions to the car, identify charging stations along the way, and even preset the temperature using the Lucid app. Alexa can also help you adjust multiple settings inside the vehicle. The Advance Drivers Assistant System is an add-on which offers additional active safety.

Motor

Lucid has invented a ground-breaking motor which is compact yet powerful. It is the world’s most powerful motor for its size. Each motor generates 670 hp and weighs just 74 kg. The variants come in different configurations: 3 motors, 2 motors, AWD, and RWD with different permutations and combinations. The use of advanced materials such as SiC-based MOSFET in the inverter helps in range extension by minimizing energy losses.

Charging

Air has multiple battery and drive options. Each variant differs in power and range figures depending on the configuration. Air has an astonishing range, thanks to its optimized systems and high-capacity batteries. Lucid has also partnered with Electrify America. They have the most extensive ultrafast charging network nationwide, with 700 stations and over 3,200 chargers across the US. Additionally, if you book an Air by December 31, 2022, you’ll have free access for a limited time to Electrify America’s charging network, which includes 350kW stations.

Specifications

Model	Air Sapphire	Air Dream Edition/ Performance	Air Grand Touring	Air Touring	Air Pure
Power	1,200+ hp	upto 1,111hp	1,050hp	620hp	480hp
Torque	TBA	1,390Nm	1,200Nm	TBA	600Nm
Motor	Rear Twin + Front	Dual ActiveCore	Dual ActiveCore	Dual ActiveCore	Dual ActiveCore
Powertrain	AWD	AWD	AWD	AWD	RWD/AWD
Battery Capacity	TBA	118kWh	118kWh	88kWh	88kWh
Range	TBA	520 miles/ 471 miles	516 miles	406 miles	406 miles
Boot Capacity			627 litres
Dimensions (meters)			4.97L x 2.19W x 1.41H
Charging DC	TBA	300kW	300kW	300kW	300kW
Charging AC	TBA	19.2kW	19.2kW	19.2kW	19.2kW
Top Speed	200+mph	168mph	168mph	–	–
0-60 mph	< 2 sec	2.5 – 2.7 sec	2.6 – 3.0 sec	3.2 sec	–
Wheels	20/21 inch	19/21 inch	19/20/21 inch	19/20/21 inch	19/20 inch
Price	$249,000	$169,000	$154,000	$107,400	$87,400
Release Date	2023	Reservations Closed	Available	Q4 2022	Q4 2022

Features

DreamDrive by Lucid is the most comprehensive advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) available in an Electric Vehicle. The ADAS system is supported by a whopping 32 sensors (the latest camera, radar, and ultrasonic technology, high-res LIDAR). The LIDAR uses laser beams to measure the distance from objects. With all these advanced sensors, the system assists in almost any weather condition, and to keep the driver alter while the vehicle is cruising it has driver monitoring as well. Safety-wise, the vehicle comes with 9 airbags. The Glass Canopy and windows are laminated too, they won’t shatter easily or break into large pieces. Apps like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and countless more, are compatible with Air.

Lucid has impressed us with its final product and it feels like finally we have a worthy competitor for Tesla now. It would be interesting to see how dynamics in the electric vehicle market change with this new entrant.

All images have been taken from the official Lucid Motors website https://lucidmotors.com/