Lucid of California has raised the bar for electric vehicles in ways that are important to electric vehicle affordability and adoption. That’s why the Lucid Air is our Green Car Report’s Best Car to Buy in 2022.
Affordable, as part of a car that starts at $170,000 in its first Dream Edition guise? Yes, and we’ll explain why.
With an EPA-rated 520-mile range, the Air sedan can beat the Tesla Model S in range and efficiency. It delivers up to 1,111 hp, exceeding the Plaid’s 1,020 hp. And it can make charging stops on the road shorter, with a recovery time of up to 300 miles in 20 minutes. Furthermore, it presents a comprehensive reinterpretation of luxury and design that, even from the launchpad, presents a formidable challenge to existing luxury brands.
It is also graceful to drive, with its graceful and responsive character, matches the beautiful appearance — seemingly influenced by aircraft and French design, while offering what may be the best ever for a with a long, low, forward cab style. The friendly, bright interior has a Volvo or DS premium feel and you can lounge around in the seat, front or back, a testament to how much space you can free up in a device. Clean design helps to free itself. Clever VP of Design Derek Jenkins calls it “legacy thinking”.
Lucid Air alone has easily delivered enough game-changing aspects to earn its spot as one of the Best car to buy finalist, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Rivian R1T and Volkswagen ID.4.
2022 Lucid Air
A big part of our awards has always been a model’s potential to drive Big Change. Whether it’s by selling a variety of effective vehicles, by disrupting a niche, or by delivering game-changing technological moments, all of our past winners showcase a particularly well one or more of those core values.
In this cohort, Rivian R1T was the segment breaker and it was our closest runner-up, in a choice that was not unanimous among our editors. As the origin for off-road, mass-market traction-focused electric trucks, the R1T beats the Tesla Cybertruck and Ford F-150 Lightning in the market, and it does so with an embedded brand vision. conclude. Like Tesla did with the Model S when we chose that, it sold us on the viability of the format, with a near-perfect electric truck that, like the Tesla, would take market share. high-priced trucks — and in this case, Jeep, Toyota, Land Rover, and others, if they don’t move fast to electrification.
At face value, the Air isn’t a bulk entry – although more affordable versions with more than 400-mile range will launch next year, starting at $77,400. For Lucid, Air is the company’s statement of purpose, the shiny object that is required for the company to be funded, to generate revenue, and to give the company its best chance at survival. It’s not exactly as disruptive to its segment as the original Tesla Model S, but it’s the technology in it that’s a potentially game-changing moment for the industry. Compact, energy-efficient motors, proprietary inverter technology and space-saving battery packs are all poised to expand into much larger models — perhaps for automakers other and for businesses to store their own future energy.
Lucid started as a battery company and delivered packages Formula E racing in three seasons. And unlike Tesla and Rivian, it do not aspire to build their own cells.
Lucid Air Platform
Lucid Pure Flux Engine
Lucid Air Battery Pack
If the cell is a commodity, then what Lucid does with that commodity is its trump card in the marketplace.
Peter Rawlinson, Lucid’s CEO and CFO, who a decade ago was the Model S’s chief engineer, doesn’t like the idea of ”ready-to-sell” parts for electric vehicles and believes the company’s strengths Lucid lies in the harmony of it all — design, packaging, performance and special work prioritize efficiency in the air.
2022 Lucid Air
All work on the master harmoniously displayed in the Air. Rawlinson teases that what might be seen as a sort of “purely technical game” may finally work, as production ramps up and the same harmonized approach is applied to the next vehicles. Accordingly, each vehicle has a larger mass. Gravity SUV will be triggered by Phase 2 expansion at the Casa Grande, Arizona plant over the next year or two, followed by a third step that includes Tesla Model 3/Y vehicles and an annual expansion to 365,000 units that will by the end of this decade. A pickup and coupe are also planned for 2030.
Rawlinson’s steadfastness in his focus on efficiency — and Lucid’s continued growth in the core component that has weathered financial hardship – has resulted in what we consider to be top-notch results that can be applied. for millions of more affordable vehicles in the long run.
Essentially, Lucid is betting on a future in which the vehicles that can operate intelligently with the least amount of energy will be the winners. And if you can afford a car like the Air, we encourage you to do the same. With our focus at Green Car Reports, that’s what makes Lucid a winner.
