Editor's note:Whether it is the luxury pure electric positioning that refreshes the cognition, or the R&D background of the former Tesla team, Lucid Air is extremely topical in all dimensions. However, for most of the world, the car is mysterious, and few people know how the team outperformed their former selves with another car. Now, it's time for the veteran cars from the UK** to talk about their experience with this American electric sedan.
To learn more, take a look at our compiled Top Gear review article.
Lucid's first production car sets an indelible new standard for electric vehicles. Its performance is very powerful and the range is also very long. 」
Top Gear Rating: 9 out of 10. Pros: An excellent blend of the luxury of a luxury sedan with the dynamism of a sports sedan. Cons: It will cost a lot to buy the full power, and it is not available in the UK yet.
It's an extremely powerful electric sedan from Silicon Valley.
Stories like this may not be new, but the products you see now are brand new. It's called Lucid Air, and it's here to take away the territory of its competitors.
Tesla is not the only competitor to choose this car. When Lucid designed the Air, while the Model S was naturally in its offensive range, its engineering team actually focused more on another vehicle during development: the Mercedes S-Class. That's right, not even an all-electric EQS.
Lucid Air was born to tear apart the rule of the old powers, targeting the limousines of Germany's Big Three. The Audi A8, the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz, which is considered a market benchmark, are all examples of new customers that Lucid is looking to acquire.
That's probably why it's configured by range, rather than 0-60mph (0-97 kmh): up to 516 miles (830 km/h) depending on the version you choose. This is similar to the configuration design of some diesel models.
Lucid seems to have copied a headache from Tesla: offering ** customization, but with as many as six different power-taker versions. Let's explain it in detail, are you ready?
The minimum version is 7The 740,000 US dollars (about 490,000 yuan) Lucid Air Pure, the rear-wheel drive single motor of this model provides 424 horsepower and a range of up to 419 miles (about 674 kilometers). Considering that there will be a $7,500 tax credit in the U.S., the actual purchase** may drop to less than $70,000 (about RMB 440,000).
On top of that is the all-wheel-drive version with two electric motors, sacrificing some mileage for an extra 50 hp. It's $5,000 higher than the rear-wheel drive version.
Next up is 9$50,000 (about 600,000 yuan) Lucid Air Touring, 612 horsepower, 425 miles (about 684 kilometers);Then there's the 808-horsepower, 516-mile (830 km) Lucid Air Grand Touring, which is expected to be the first choice for many Lucid buyers. Further up is the Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance, which produces a whopping 1036 hp.
Incredibly, this isn't even the fastest one.
The fastest title belongs to the Lucid Air Sapphire, which costs $250,000 (about 1.7 million yuan), and it has a staggering 1,217 hp and 1,430 lb-ft (about 1,939 N· m) of torque, with a 0-60mph acceleration time of 1In 89 seconds, a top speed of 205mph (about 330kmh) can be reached. The car can travel 427 miles (about 687 kilometers) on a full charge, but at full power, it might not be as strong.
We've also done a review of the Lucid Air Sapphire before, and it's titled: The best handling electric car in the world right now.
It's true that the Lucid Air is a tenth of a second faster than other cars, but that's not the point.
If you can experience the strong thrust of the air without an immediate headache, then you must be more resilient than we are. But Lucid has put the R&D focus in the right place, but they're also reluctant to satisfy those who have to look at the acceleration time every time they buy a new car.
If you like streamlined cars, then this is the car for you. A number of chassis experts from Aston and Jaguar, as well as former aerodynamics expert Jean-Charles Monnet from Red Bull Racing, were both invited by Lucid to California to participate in the development of the vehicle, which gave the Lucid Air better driving performance.
The coefficient of aerodynamic resistance of this car is 020 CD, the same as the Mercedes EQS. But we think the Lucid Air looks better, it's more like a classic sedan, but with an update adapted to the electric era. And, with its streamlined design and longer range, this car stands out even more here.
When connected to a fast charger, the car can be fully charged with a range of 300 miles (about 483 kilometers) in just 20 minutes. As a car owner, you don't have to worry about missing out on Tesla's supercharging network, as every new Lucid Air can be charged for free at Electrify America for three years.
Top Gear intends to wait until the Lucid Air enters the European market and test-drives an officially sold car on the road in the UK before making a final review.
But in its home state of California, the car is really great;It's better to drive than any Tesla we've ever driven, the interior is more comfortable, and it's also the most novel and popular model. Tesla hasn't given us this sense of novelty since the Model X's unique falcon wing door design surprised us five years ago.
The more generic Lucid Air Pure or Lucid Air Touring we would most like to test drive – while the power delivery and launch control of these higher-spec variants are staggering, they aren't really necessary.
A Lucid model with around 500 hp and a price tag of less than £60,000 could put many EV shoppers on a shortlist or sneak up on the company'.......s car purchases**
First, let's take a look at the different powertrains.
The entry-level Pure is the only rear-wheel drive version of the Lucid Air, offering 424 hp and a range of around 674 km. Even though it's the slowest model, it's actually not slow: 0-60mph acceleration takes just 4.5 seconds. The dual-motor all-wheel drive pure has 473 hp, so it's a bit faster, but it has a slightly shorter range.
Next up is touring (612 hp 0-60mph acceleration of 3..)4 seconds for a range of about 683 km), followed by Grand Touring (808 hp 0-60mph acceleration of 3..)0 seconds for a range of about 830 km) and Grand Touring Performance (1036 hp 0-60mph acceleration of 2.6 seconds with a range of about 717 km).
Finally, there's the Air Sapphire, a car with impressive parameters: the triple motor delivers 1217 hp and about 1939 Nm of torque, with 0-60mph acceleration of just 189 seconds for a top speed of 205 mph (about 330 kmh). When you slam the accelerator pedal, your neck muscles may be tense.
Like Tesla, Lucid doesn't have a clear battery size. We now know that Sapphire is using a 118kwh battery, and combined with conjecture, Pure and Touring may be using a 92kwh battery, while Grand Touring may be using a 112kwh battery. This information can help you calculate the charging time.
There are a variety of driving modes to choose from, including Smooth, Swift and Sprint. In the Air Sapphire variant, a track mode has also been added, with options such as Dragstrip, Hot Lap and Endurance. The model photographed in this article is the sold-out Dream Edition, which is limited to less than 600 horsepower except in Sprint mode.
Lucid is more than capable of making us mistakenly believe that the power of the vehicle is still strong even when horsepower is limited. In fact, you might try Sprint mode to experience that crazy acceleration and then switch to Smooth mode for everyday road driving, and then select Swift mode on your favorite sections.
The car fine-tunes suspension damping to improve braking and steering responsiveness, but the changes are more subtle. When you enable this feature, the Air doesn't suddenly feel like a track-specific car, but rather is particularly nimble when cornering, with a noticeably skewed power delivery towards the rear wheels.
Jaguar Land Rover's chassis specialist, D**ID Lickfold, has been eager for six years to build a car that will respond intelligently to your needs. When Lucid Air knows you're cruising, it prioritizes range, switches to two-wheel drive and lightens the throttle, and then automatically activates the power again when it senses you're accelerating.
As a result, Air's many algorithms sense you're driving on country roads and send more power to the rear axle. The maximum torque distribution is 30 front and 70 rear. Even when the stability control is in Partial mode, you can induce a moderate oversteer. While the size and weight of this car isn't as lightweight as a top-of-the-line gasoline sports sedan, it does perform amazingly considering the overall mass.
No matter what mode you're in, there's an inch left on the throttle Are you sure?space for hesitation to prevent accidents from happening. Even if you sneeze while switching to Sprint mode, there's still a chance to avoid rampage at an intersection at twice the speed limit.
Plus, if you're planning to drive a roughly 1000-horsepower Air in a California canyon and go into Sprint mode, the feeling is as exciting as lighting a firework in the downstairs restroom. We're guessing that unless you really need to brag about speeding, the minimum road speed is fast enough.
The Lucid Air test drive is equipped with 21-inch tires that make the driving feel extremely soft and give a true limousine experience.
Choosing smaller tires not only results in a smoother driving experience, but also extends the driving range. If you can't find the 516-mile version in the spec options, it's a bit of a surprise to note that 20- or 21-inch tires are available by default for all but the base model.
Impressively, despite the fact that the weight of the Air is close to 25 tons, but the driving experience is still excellent. This weight should be a challenge to build a vehicle that is easy to handle and precise to drive. But Lucid has invested a lot of resources and hired professionals to create a driver-centric car, and plans to be the first electric car with adjustable stability control.
This is an important milestone. Although the accolade ended up on the Porsche Taycan due to various delays, this did not detract from the Air's position in its category – in fact it was quite the opposite。The main goal of this car was undoubtedly to create a sturdy and quiet luxury sedan, and it has been achieved quite perfectly, but at the same time a lot of effort has been put into driving on twisty roads. Yes, the United States does have such a path.
One of the charms of Lucid Air is its unique roof design, which Lucid calls a glass canopy.
In fact, Opel Astra has been offering such a design option for more than a decade. We speculate that this design is not widely accepted, and the possible reason is that it is too expensive to repair the windshield fragments during the winter. However, the feeling of spaciousness that this design brings to the cabin is very popular. It is important to note that the base version of Air does not have this configuration.
Overall,The interior of this car has a more relaxed and less formal atmosphere than all the German competitors, and it has a more traditional car interior feel than TeslaThis design style is very attractive. While there's a larger vertical display that plays a dominant role in controlling functions like the Air's chassis components, it's worth mentioning that the car also comes with physical buttons – something that Gen Z friends might need to be prepared for.
For those of us who lived through the two eras before and after the advent of smartphones, the way Lucid Air skillfully blended the characteristics of both periods is admirable.
You can switch between driving modes via the touch screen, and adjust the climate control via a physical button. Although the gauges are digitally displayed, they are placed in the desired position – directly in the semicircular area above the steering wheel. It is worth mentioning that the steering wheel of this car is almost completely rounded, and there is no deliberate imitation of boxy or confusing joysticks.
Let's talk about the material. If you prefer, opt for an all-leather interior, but Lucid also offers an animal-free alternative called Purluxe. At the same time, you can also choose to decorate the doors and dashboard with alpaca fur, as shown in this Dream Edition R version. Of course, it's not completely animal-free, but alpaca is more renewable and sustainable than cowhide.
For us, however, the biggest attraction of the interior lies in its quietness, in addition to the unique door opening mechanism and the powerful massage function. For such a heavy car, the Lucid Air is surprisingly good to drive, and the original intention to make it comparable in driving performance to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class ensures a serene and smooth overall feel.
Generally speaking, removing a petrol or diesel engine from a car will only make you more sensitive to other noises from driving. However, whether you're cruising on the highway or navigating the city, Lucid Air is always as quiet as a whisper.
The car has more room in the rear, with legroom between the Tesla Model S and the Mercedes S-Class, although taller people may feel a little cramped when putting their feet under the front seat.
At the same time, the loading space is quite sufficient: the trunk has a capacity of 458 liters and opens in a unique and elegant way. The front baggage compartment has a capacity of 280 litres, which is almost twice the space under the hood of a Porsche Cayman, but this space is a bit flatter and shallower. Overall, large luggage is more suitable for the rear.
While this is only a production-proof car, the only really unpleasant minor flaw is the noticeable delay in the reaction speed of the rearview camera。When you're planning to buy this car, this problem may be solved. Otherwise, the turning experience while driving can be worrying.
For our consumers in the UK, the struggle over how to buy this car is still up in the air. Because Lucid will deliver the long-delayed Air model to customers in the United States first, the European market is not far behind.
Tesla should be concerned if it can be redeemed directly from the U.S. market, without being affected by the transatlantic intangible tax that could significantly increase the car. With 480 horsepower, the performance of the rear-wheel drive Lucid Air is definitely not inferior, if it can be sold for less than 60,000 pounds (about 53 yuan.)60,000 yuan), it will be extremely attractive
If you buy in the United States, then you can buy it for 7$740,000** to purchase the rear-wheel drive version of the pure;To upgrade to the all-wheel drive version, you will need to pay an additional $5000. The Touring version is priced at 9$50,000, the Grand Touring version is priced at $12$560,000, while the Grand Touring Performance version is priced at $14$960,000. The Sapphire version sells for a whopping $250,000, more than double the Tesla Model S Plaid**.
Something fresh is,The higher-spec Lucid Air comes with large 21-inch alloy wheels by default, while the 19-inch and 20-inch wheels that increase the advertised range are optional。It's clearly more about style and speed, and if you want a 10% increase in range, you'll need to modify the configuration.
The Grand Touring and Sapphire variants are quite extensive, while the lower variants include the DreamDrive Pro autonomous driving and active safety package as options. In Europe, however, the technology suite is likely to become standard, as some of these features have become essential to achieving good NCAP scores.
Only the Touring version of the Lucid Air, with a rear descending roof design with a glass canopy optional, is not available at all on the entry-level Pure model. If Lucid's product line layout can gradually achieve the stability of mass production and purchase mode of automobiles like Tesla, the space for user selection may become abundant.