Lucid Air Grand Touring is an EV With Style, Power and 516 Miles of Range
The Lucid Air Grand Touring is kind of a rare car, beautiful on the inside, stunning on the outside and achieves hyperspeed-like acceleration . Man! The automotive industry is a cruel merciless business. For decades, it s been ruled by behemoths. Few upstarts have survived, heck, even established brands have disappeared. But lately, it seems like even the kid down the street is ready to launch an electric vehicle company. Not familiar with this name? I like it, but what s,
what brand is it. Lucid. Oh it s a Lucid. Brand new brand The Lucid Air, a Grand Touring model in this case, grabs eyeballs like few cars I ve witnessed. Some get, emotional He just HAD to do that People inherently see it as an EV, though oddly many think it s a Tesla. Clearly it s not. The Air is a smidge smaller than Model S. Other competitors? BMW i7, Mercedes EQS and maybe the smaller Porsche Taycan or Audi e-tron GT. Obviously Lucid is a very new independent car company. It s ramping up production, in 2022 it managed to deliver just over 7,000 vehicles. It s headquarters are in Newark California, not
that far away from Fremont and these are built in Arizona just outside of Phoenix in Casa Grande. This is not for the Chevy Bolt crowd. A base rear-drive Pure model starts at $87,400, the MSRP on this Grand Touring is $140,600. This is before any incentives from Lucid or the government all of which seem to change daily. Standard Grand Touring stuff includes Dream
Drive semi-autonomous driving tech. This one s equipped with Dream Drive Pro with enough cameras and sensors to supply a Supermax security site, including Lidar. There s also dual motor all-wheel drive and Lucid s large 112kWh battery pack that s EPA rated to deliver a bladder busting 516 miles of range. The best in the biz. With 819 horsepower and 885 pound-feet of instant torque (SOUND UP) it s less expensive than buying your own roller coaster. Takes up less real estate too. That thrust is courtesy of unusually compact motors weighing about 67 pounds, with a differential integrated into the rotor. The unique cooling is done near the stator s copper
winding. The Sapphire model gets a three-motor powertrain for claimed sub 2 second 0-60 runs. The lithium-ion pack uses cylindrical cells, 300 per module. Liquid cooling is channeled through an aluminum plate on top of each module instead around the sides of the cells, helping to keep the modules compact. Those are packaged in a composite case that s structural and curved for better aerodynamics. The compact size of the motors and pack open up space in the cabin.
Grand Touring tips the scales at some 5,200 pounds (2,360 kilos), the pack is heavy so the center of gravity is low. This is a modular architecture, expect to find it under a three-row SUV dubbed Gravity. Lucid uses a 900+V architecture. It can juice very fast at the right DC fast chargers, with a max charge rate of over 300kW. Seems like Lucid s trying to up all-commers. This is one of those cars that doesn t have an on off switch, butts in seats turn the Air on. And there is no parking brake release, if you re in park the brake is on, shift to drive or reverse, and it releases automatically. The gauge cluster is 34-inches of curved 5K-resolution display, divided up into
three zones, one oriented for infotainment, another for driving data and a section that controls stuff like lights, trunk releases and the charge port door. Regenerative braking toggles from mild to aggressive and there are drive modes that range from docile to spirited to let s get the legal team to sign off on this. Dampers are adaptive. Lucid s powertrain is single-speed, the traditional selector is intuitive. There s phone-as-key technology, I used this chubby Pringle chip fob. Grand Touring here will spring to 60 miles an hour in three seconds flat. If that s not fast enough for you, there s always the Grand Touring Performance with 1050 hp, that drops 0 to 60 runs to 2.6 seconds. It also lowers range by 70 miles and ups the price by 40 grand
so only you can tell if that thrill ride is worth it. Here, acceleration is still fairly violent Ha ha! That is so much fun. Plenty of power to pass slow moving vehicles. Plenty of power to pass fast moving vehicles. And apparently top speed is over 200 miles an hour, not tested by yours truly, at least I m not going to admit it Unlike many potent cars, the Air is relaxed at slow speeds. It s a pussycat in town, that can transform to a caffeinated tiger in the right conditions. It s a dynamic that even season
automakers don t always nail down. Suspension is a little bit on the firm side. Meaning body movements are very nicely controlled, but the semi active dampers do a great job of keeping this car comfortable. Plus you know these are low profile tires. I m kind of surprised there aren t more sharp bumps making their way up through the seat. Steering weight is on the hefty side, a dynamic I prefer. And there s road feel through the wheel. So the Grand Touring is a fun dancing partner considering it casts a large luxury sedan shadow. Visibility is good, however the steep rake of the glass and thick A pillars make for a sizeable blind spot forward. The Air, slices
through the stuff, the most aerodynamic vehicle on the road with a coefficient of drag under .2. At highway speeds, about the only thing you re going to hear is the slight rush of wind over the body and it s very faint, considering how aerodynamic this car is. The thing is, at slower speeds like when you re driving in the city, I m not sure that you can hear this, but there is a good amount of motor whine something to think about when you re test driving this car. There are no switchable performance sounds like Porsche Taycan. Chances are you ll
be seduced by the deep well of torque and the calming light that bathes the cockpit, we in cloudy Seattle appreciate the brightness. Folks in sunny places may feel differently. The Lucid Grand Touring excels at travel, it can eat up the miles. I am not seeing 516 miles of range, for starters it s been kind of cool in Seattle in the low 40s plus I ve been launching this thing really hard, you know partly to demonstrate to you, partly to have a lot of fun. Also I found that at speeds over 75 miles an hour, this seems to be a lot less efficient and I have been doing a lot of highway mileage sell closer to 400. Still really good. If you re conservative I m sure you can get that up to 475 maybe even 500.
Like all EVs, conditions and driving style make a huge difference. Tesla Model S is EPA rated as high as 406 miles, but I wouldn t be surprised seeing closer to 300 driving like I am. One pedal driving is really easy to do in this car. I m in the most aggressive regen setting, and foot off the throttle, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi. That s from 45 miles an hour. The thing is, this is using just regenerative, if I were to use the brake pedal, the initial travel is regenerative braking, and then it feathers into the physical disc brakes. With Tesla you re always using the physical brakes when you re using the brake pedal. Oh, and the pedal
feel, when you re transitioning from recuperation to the actual physical brakes is seamless I m going to do a separate piece on Dream Drive Pro, Lucid s semi-autonomous driving tech. For now, before planned updates, it s not true hands-free like Super Cruise. As it stands, Dream Drive is confident but does want hands on the wheel every so often. It s good
stuff and apparently it s going to get a whole lot better I ll also cover charging more thoroughly in my second piece. With its built in Wonderbox charger and 900+V architecture, Lucid claims this is the fastest charging EV available. In optimal conditions, it can take on 200 miles in 12 minutes at terminals like this. And at Electrify America stations, where charging is free for 2 years, it supports plug-and-charge. No apps, no cards. Just plug in and juice up Hey, it worked I shouldn
t be surprised but with Electrify America I really don t know what to expect. In my experience 200 miles were added in around 15 minutes, the best take rate being 230kW, temperature probably kept the charge curve conservative. At home, using Level 2 with a 50A circuit, Air takes on 40 miles every hour using the supplied cord. Lucid s more powerful unit with bi-directional functionality doubles that rate if you have a 100A breaker that s free. Air supports 19.2-kW Level 2 charging.
The Air sits low, most will need to duck a smidge on entry, and the frunk space pushes some components to the cabin area so the front isn t as open as the rear. Around 5 percent roomier than a Model S, it looks like the design team was shopping for an Eames chair, a new suit and some iPads. BTW this is not fixed in place, good for stashing things not used much. Even these are nicely finished and lined. There are a couple nods to it s Silicon Valley engineering. Lucid showrooms have virtual reality goggles to help buyers see the car they re choosing, inside and out. The indecisive can change up the mood. The ambiance is dreamy, the light-colored fabric and carpet would be a nightmare for me to keep clean. Heated, vented and massaging seats are
covered in Nappa leather, can t remember the last time a car came with contrasting rear seats. If the Mercedes EQS looks like a starship, the Lucid has a Room and Board mid-century modern vibe. I do like the blind spot monitor system. Voice control is courtesy of Alexa. The doors, those
are soft close on the Grand Touring and if you find yourself in a Lucid for the first time, here s how you get out. There are so many things to like about this car, for those that can afford it, but it s not perfect. I ll curse Elon for starting the touch screen trend to save money on buttons. Adjusting the wheel, mirrors and full function of the seats while driving isn t fun. At least there are a few hard buttons. This is low and way out of a driver s sightline, not ideal at high speed. I find walking up to unlock the doors or trunk using the proximity key is a game of roulette. Feeling
lucky? The stubby signal stalk has a wiper button that I hit by accident a couple dozen times. Also small software issues that I didn t capture on camera came and went. Lucid assures it s updating the system constantly. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay will be over-the-air updates. This is all familiar stuff to Tesla and Rivian owners. Mainstream automakers nail it down better right out of the box. Unless you re Volkswagen. You re gonna complain about foot room aren t you? How did
you know? You re kind of predictable. This one has the larger battery so it kind of eliminated that. Do with an Air with the smaller pack and there will be room for your Chucks. Continue. We re both 5 foot 9 by the way. Right and at that height I ve got that much headroom. I do need to kind of duck to get in an out. Knee and legroom are really very generous. It s just that whole foot room thing that keeps my legs at a slightly awkward angle so thigh support is just kind of average. But I will say these doors open super wide, great if you re getting car seats in and out all the time.
And check this out, yeah, motorized sunshades. Nice. And they re in the back too. if nothing else you re fun to play with. As far as storage goes, these are nice and pockets on both seat, that s very nice plus a little cubby here. You can charge your phones right there. Is there a separate climate zone? Yes there is plus heated seats, I mean this is an expensive car. The floor is almost perfectly flat so in a way you have a lot of room for your feet. By the way, I wouldn t get
the white carpet, it s gets dirty really fast. The glass roof makes things nice and airy back here, no pun intended. And this is wide enough so that three adults will have no problem. The only real issue back here is the foot room so I suggest looking at models with a smaller battery pack Lucid s head of design, Dereck Jenkins, bumped around the VW group and Mazda before drawing for Lucid. Not sure how much he and the team make, but they still deserve a raise. The last time I had so many people interested in a car, it had prancing horse logos. There s a grace and balance about the Air s styling that ties the past to the future. This would look awesome parked at a Frank Lloyd Wright home. Like those, the Lucid s interior and exterior harmonize perfectly.
The lighting animation adds interest, but isn t overwrought. Even the badge has personality. It s all so distractingly attractive, it takes a moment to realize the roof is a different paint color. Sedans, they re just not as practical as SUV and crossovers. Lucid doesn t make one of those, yet. It s been teasing the Gravity though. At least the opening is wide. The supplied charge cord packs away perfectly, maybe run an air pump from here, there s no spare tire. It s trimmed out well. Skis on the roof would add aero drag and noise. Great to have releases here, unless you re
try to get your steps in going around to the back doors. For a sedan, the Air has some flexibility. As for the TP Trunk Test, we ll start with one pack here. This space measures out at 22 cubic feet in total, that turns out to be 6 in the back. Up front, there s 10 cubes or two packs, you might put carryon luggage there instead. I won t judge. Time for the Red Light Green Light wrap up. Green Light- Inside and out, Lucid Air is something special to look at. It switches from
grocery getter to Millennium Falcon performance with ease. Even with 400 miles of observed range, there s no anxiety at all. That especially true considering Air s best in the biz charge speed. Yellow Light- Quiet in most cases, there s motor noise at lower speeds. The spacious well-crafted
cabin that requires a slight duck to get into, uses materials kind of casual for a $140K car some might find. If you want best rear foot room, go with the Touring model and its smaller pack. Red Light- The Grand Touring s effortless elegance and performance comes at a steep price. I experienced a number of software phantoms that Lucid engineers need to jump on. That can be done over-the-air, the thick A pillar that blocks visibility is forever. The dictionary defines the word lucid as expressed clearly and easy to understand . That rings true with the Air Grand Touring. It s beauty in motion, both in copious amounts. The fledgling automaker has weathered turbulent times,
and there are never guarantees of success. But something this good will have enthusiasts rooting for it. Lucid is a new company, some are going to be wary of that. Then there s the price, I mean I would have to take out a second job to afford this. Maybe a third of maybe a fourth.
And then there are software issues and sniggly little details. Lucid says it s on that. But imagine waking up in the morning and walking up to this beautiful car, dropping into this great interior and then hitting highway on ramps at warp speed. Could be a lot of fun. It s a striking and comfortable sedan with gobs of power. Lucid might be a new automaker, but it delivers the style, performance and exclusivity that premium EV owners want like it s been in business for decades. Again, I ll be doing a second piece on the Lucid Air to flesh out the details like Dream Drive Pro and charging (which was more involved than I showed here). I m trying to keep these videos more concise, I hate people wasting my time. I try not to waste yours. I highly suggest watching
videos that Lucid has produced, the links are in the video description. Fascinating geeky stuff that Lucid made easy to understand. When you re watching videos like Motor Trend, you ll see these credits with dozens of people. Well, this is my version of credits.
Hey Martin, come on up here, it s Martin. It s me and Martin. Martin drives while I shoot running footage, so thanks Martin, couldn t do this without Martin. He also takes the thumbnails you see. He s a terrific still photog. Check him out on Instagram. Hope you got something out of my look at the Lucid Air Grand Touring. Before I go, an observation. It s been decades since the American automobile industry has seen a successful new car company.
Tucker, DeLorean, Bricklin didn t make it. We lost AMC. We don t have brands like Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Mercury and Plymouth anymore. But we do have a Tesla now, that is clearly successful and I ve seen a number of these in the wild, plus Rivian. I see the R1T truck on a daily basis here in Seattle plus on the way here I saw my first R1S SUV, so obviously people are embracing these new companies. Even though the vehicles are very very expensive.
Good to see that, good to see competition, it floats all boats. Cars in this case. Thanks for watching, remember subscribe to this channel. Click notifications. Follow me on social media and leave a comment if you have a question. All right. That s Driven. I m Tom Voelk.
2023-03-01 15:54
