The Lucid Air that made its debut last September arrived with the Tesla Model S squarely in its sights, with some big numbers in tow – it boasted of up to 1,080 hp in its most powerful Dream Edition form, while the most efficient Grand Touring variant had a maximum range of 832 km.
Now, Tesla’s flagship sedan has been comprehensively revised for its facelift, and while the Air hasn’t received an update to that effect, it has added a single-motor, RWD base variant for a total line-up of four variants of the Air.
The Californian start-up is not shy about positioning its first product against its perceived competitors over various parameters, though, according to an investor presentation document sourced by Inside EVs.
Lucid pitches itself as ‘post-luxury’, a genre that the start-up says goes beyond traditional expectations of luxury, in which it places established brands such as Mercedes-Benz (which its calls classic luxury), BMW (sport luxury) and Audi (tech luxury). As for what’s likely to be its closest rival, Lucid considers Tesla to be ‘innovative, but not luxury’ within the same diagram.
On performance and efficiency figures, Lucid claims that its technology has enabled both performance and efficiency, whereas other EVs offers either performance or efficiency, but not both, it said. Lucid compares its Air EV in its Dream Edition and Grand Touring variants against the Tesla Model S (which it had just described as not a luxury competitor) in Long Range and Plaid variants, and the Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
In terms of battery range, the Lucid Air Grand Touring tops the lot with its aforementioned 832 km of range, followed by the Air Dream Edition with 805 km. The remaining places are occupied by the Model S Long Range with 659 km, the Model S Plaid with 624 km and the Taycan Turbo S with 322 km. The recently facelifted Model S will also feature a Plaid+ variant, which has been said to boast an identical 832 km of range.
Top speeds are an identical 269 km/h for both Lucid Air variants compared here, with the Taycan Turbo S weighing in at 257 km/h and the Model S Long Range at 248 km/h. Comfortably boasting the highest top speed of this quintet is the Tesla Model S Plaid, at 320 km/h.
For the 0-96 km/h acceleration measure, Lucid claims the second quickest sprint time of under 2.5 seconds with the Air Dream Edition (the top spot once again goes to the Model S Plaid at 1.99 seconds), while the Taycan Turbo S clocks 2.6 seconds, the Air Grand Touring takes 3.0 seconds and the Model S Long Range takes 3.1 seconds to the benchmark.
Lucid also claims to offer the most power-dense electric drive unit when compared to an “American EV brand” and a “German EV brand”, which is presumed to be Tesla and Porsche, respectively. Motors for a ‘full size model’ and a ‘compact model’ for the American EV brand are depicted in the illustration above, which is likely to be the power units for Tesla’s Model S and Model X, and the Model 3 and Model Y, respectively.
Here, comparisons are made on the basis of the drive units’ power-to-weight ratio in terms of hp to kg, which the Lucid Air tops at 9.0 hp/kg. This is followed by the American EV brand’s motors for its full-size and compact models at 3.2 hp/kg and 3.1 hp/kg, respectively, while the German entry rounds up quartet with 2.6 hp/kg, according to Lucid’s chart.
Compared to the two variants of the Tesla Model S as well as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, Lucid claims the highest rate of charge for the Grand Touring and Dream Edition variants of the Air, boasting a charge rate of 480 km from 20 minutes of charging. By comparison, the Long Range as well as Plaid and Plaid+ variants of the Model S are rated at 15 minutes for 320 km of range, while the Taycan Turbo S gets 256 km from a 22.5-minute charge, according to Lucid’s numbers.
An electric vehicle’s kilowatt-hours are only as good as the range of travel it grants, and here as well Lucid claims to top its peers. It uses the Grand Touring variant as the basis for comparison, which records 7.2 km per kWh, while the Tesla Model S does 6.4 km per kWh. Rounding up the pack is the Jaguar I-Pace (2.6 miles/4.16 km per kWh), Porsche Taycan (2.4 miles/3.84 km per kWh), Audi e-tron (2.3 miles/3.68 km per kWh) and Rivian R1T (2.2 miles/3.52 km per kWh).
Last but not least, Lucid says the Air will come to market with a total of 32 sensors, making it the most comprehensive sensor suite in a vehicle when it goes on sale. This will enable Level 2 self-driving, says the firm, and have the ability to receive over-the-air updates. Machine learning is on the cards too, as Lucid says the autonomous driving features will continually be enhanced with the collection and analysis of fleet data.
What say you, dear readers? Are these stats enough to sway you from the established marques in the electric vehicle era?
GALLERY: Lucid Air
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smells like vapor
Smells like air….
LUCID will not be able to compete and will fade away soon. they have both Chinese and Saudi black money behind them and their tech info is far too strange to be accepted. another Fisker in the making.