air touring lucid cars

Lucid Cars are EVs Wrapped in Futuristic Fantasy

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Lucid cars are made by an American automobile company called by the same name: Lucid. It has its headquarters in Newark, California, where their cars are designed. The vehicles are manufactured at the company’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Lucid started out in 2007 under the name Atieva and produced electric vehicle batteries and powertrains for other vehicle manufacturers. The company rebranded to Lucid Motors in 2016, announced its new direction of making electric vehicles, built its Arizona factory, and began manufacturing cars in 2021.

The Air Touring is one of the latest Lucid Cars

Lucid Cars Are Made in America

Lucid Motors is one of the few car makers with manufacturing facilities in the United States. And it reflects in the prices of the vehicles. Lucid electric cars are relatively pricey, but if you are looking for a made in America car, perhaps it is worth the price.

Lucid cars will also soon be made in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabia facility is expected to go on stream in the 3rd quarter of 2023 [1] and produce electric vehicles for the Middle East market.

What kind of cars does Lucid Motors make?

Lucid’s focus is the high performance electric vehicle market. For example, the Lucid Air Touring has a 620 electric horsepower engine with a range of up to 425 miles. When you need to go, it goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds. It sells for $107,400. The Volvo EX30 Ultra trim, with similar performance, sells for about half that price. The Volvo is manufactured in China where production costs are much lower.

But then, perhaps in true American style, the Air Touring has futuristic features that you won’t find in an EX30. Consider the 34-inch, 5K floating screen that curves around you, presenting vital info conveniently in your sightline. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction movies. I imagine it must be cool to experience. This experience is available in all Lucid Air variants (there are four of them).

air touring Glass Cockpit
The Air Touring’s cockpit

Also available across the Lucid Air range is a facial recognition system that scabs your face when you sit in and automatically adjusts select settings to your preferences. If you love your music like I do, there is an optional 21-speaker Surreal Sound Pro system that you can add. You read that correctly: 21 speakers.

Lucid cars definitely have a cool factor that makes the steep prices worth it, if you are into cool cars. As a matter of fact, the Lucid Air has received positive reviews for its range, power, handling, and luxury features. It also received numerous awards for its innovative technology and design, including being named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2020.

The top-of-the-line Lucid Air variants, Grand Touring and Sapphire, are reputed to have the longest-range for any EV currently on the market, and they beat out the BMW 7 Series / i7 and the Genesis G90 to take the prestigious 2023 World Car Awards prize.

As mentioned before, the Air Touring is only one of the four variants of the Lucid Air. Others include the Air Pure, costing from $87,400 (approximately €79,250), the Grand Touring, costing from $138,000, and finally the most expensive in the range, Air Sapphire, costing a whooping $249,000 (around €225,775). I did say that Lucid cars were pricey.

Specs and Features of the Lucid Air Range

  • Aire Pure has a 480 electric horsepower engine with a range of 410 miles, and it accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds. It takes only 15 minutes to get enough charge for a 200-mile drive.
  • Air Touring has a 620 electric horsepower engine with a range of up to 425 miles, and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds. Charging time is the same as that of the Air Pure.
  • Air Grand Touring has a 1050 electric horsepower engine with a range of up to 516 miles, and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.6 seconds. It takes only 12 minutes to get enough charge for a 200-mile drive.
  • Air Sapphire has a 1200 electric horsepower engine with a range of up to 516 miles, and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 2 seconds. The Air Sapphire literally takes off. It charges at the same speed as the Grand Touring.

The Tesla Influence

Did I also mention that Lucid Motors was founded by former Tesla executive, Bernard Tse, and businessman, Sam Weng? You can see the Tesla influence in the design of Lucid cars, and even better, those designs leave Tesla designs in the dust. I consider it a case of standing on the shoulders of a pioneer to innovate even more.

References

  • Lucid To Launch Saudi-Assembled Vehicles This September (source)

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