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The Lucid Air is among the coolest new electrical vehicles on sale at the moment.
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Lucid lent me a $180,000 Air Grand Touring Efficiency for assessment.
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Its greatest options: ferocious quickness, 446 miles of vary, and, most significantly, butt massagers.
In 2023, there is not any scarcity of recent and thrilling electrical automobiles to drool over. However few are fairly as novel or thrilling because the Air, the very first mannequin out of California startup Lucid Motors.
The straightforward indisputable fact that Lucid has managed to start out constructing automobiles and delivery them to prospects means the newcomer deserves your consideration. In an business dominated by hundred-year-old behemoths, it is exceptionally tough for brand new firms to arrange store. Reminder: Tesla almost went bankrupt when it was ramping up manufacturing of the Mannequin 3.
Furthermore, the luxe sedan is ridiculously spectacular. I obtained behind the wheel of a $180,000 Air Grand Touring Efficiency (one of many pricier variations), and was delighted by all kinds of awe-inspiring options and capabilities.
The Air has an enormous trunk with a snazzy clamshell opening that I feel seems to be extremely cool.
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The trunk’s mouth is a bit low and broad, presenting a little bit of an issue for loading in awkwardly formed cargo.
However on the upside, you get a secret cellar underneath the ground.
Folding the rear seats ought to make room for skis or a TV.
In the event you max out the trunk at a Costco run, there’s a great deal of bonus room up entrance within the Air’s frunk.
At first look, the frunk seems to be decently sized however not enormous. Take away a ground panel and it turns into one of the spacious within the EV biz, greater than any from Tesla.
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The Air’s trendy inside — crammed with wooden, Alcantara, and delicate leather-based — is a giant promoting level in itself.
However I will name out a number of highlights.
Hopping inside, one of many first belongings you discover is a sprawling glass roof that brings the surface in.
There’s an extra-large windshield that stretches over the motive force’s head, leading to funny-looking solar visors.
It makes the inside really feel tremendous open and trendy, but in addition has a behavior of cooking passengers when the solar’s actually beating down.
One other high-end contact: The Air has soft-close doorways. Shut a door a lot of the approach and it will pull itself shut mechanically.
The Air’s curved, 34-inch show seems to be crisp and stylish, however essentially the most distinctive a part of it’s the leftmost nook.
Learn extra: I drove the $180,000 Lucid Air and skilled the stunningly quick, screen-filled way forward for luxurious vehicles
There you will discover an assortment of touchscreen buttons that by no means transfer. It is good to have essentially the most essential capabilities on the prepared.
Talking of screens, the centerpiece of the Air’s cabin is a tablet-like show down by the motive force’s knee.
It serves as a portal to all of the Air’s settings, together with the seat heaters, charging settings and drive modes.
However the coolest half about it’s that it retracts into the dashboard, revealing a hidden cubby.
One other advantage of the multi-screen setup: When parking, the Air prominently shows each a birds-eye view and backup digicam concurrently.
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The high-def 360-degree view was one in every of my favourite options of the Air.
The Air I drove had massaging seats up entrance with a number of completely different settings.
They even therapeutic massage your butt, which felt a bit intrusive at first however is welcome on lengthy, crampy drives.
On high of all that, the Air serves up extraordinarily spectacular efficiency throughout.
Its vary is unmatched.
The Air Grand Touring earns an EPA ranking of 516 miles. The Grand Touring Efficiency I drove is estimated at a whopping 446.
For reference, one of the best Tesla Mannequin S goes simply over 400 miles on a full battery, whereas most mainstream EVs are rated for someplace between 230 and 300 miles.
The Air Grand Touring Efficiency’s quickness is otherworldly. It is like your individual private rollercoaster.
With two motors sending 1,050 horsepower to all 4 wheels, the Air is able to hitting 60 mph from a standstill in 2.6 seconds, Lucid says.
What’s extra, the Air shoots ahead so easily and effortlessly that it feels prefer it’s barely even attempting.
One of many best possible elements of the Air is how shortly it expenses up after a day on the highway.
Learn extra: I drove the $180,000 Lucid Air. It solved my EV vary nervousness and charged quicker than I’ve ever seen.
The Air boasts a peak charging charge of 300 kilowatts, putting it close to the highest of the business.
In plain English, which means it expenses a lot, a lot quicker than your common EV — as long as you discover a station that is rated to output 300 kW or extra.
I ended for 12 minutes and added 158 miles of vary, lots for an additional couple hours of freeway driving.
Underneath optimum circumstances, Lucid says the Air can recoup 200 miles of vary in 12 minutes.
There isn’t any doubt that the Air is a rare machine. However is it spectacular sufficient to go toe to toe with main gamers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW? Solely time will inform.
Learn the unique article on Enterprise Insider