Prior to that, Rawlinson was chief engineer at Lotus, whose Elise sports car served as the basis of Tesla's first car, the Roadster. You may recall Rawlinson for his key role in developing the game-changing Tesla Model S, as that car's chief engineer. That's led by Peter Rawlinson, Lucid's Wales-born founder and CEO/CTO. So what does it take to squeeze 837 km (520 miles) of range from a roomy, 2.5-ton luxury sedan? A factory tour underlines the company's relentless focus on miniaturization and in-house tech.
#Lucid electric car free#
(Buyers also get three years of free refills on Electrify America's growing public network.) Six versions of the Air, ranging from 726 to 837 km (451 to 520 miles) of range, have seized the top six spots in the EPA's range rankings, with Tesla's best delivering just 652 km (405 miles). That frugal operation is boosted by a 924-volt architecture (versus 400 volts for Tesla, and 800 for Porsche's Taycan) whose benefits include restoring up to 300 miles of range in 20 minutes on a 350-kilowatt DC fast charger.
YouTube drag runs aside, the Lucid's calling card is unmatched efficiency of up to 4.6 miles per kilowatt hour. That blurry view is enhanced by an atrium-like "Glass Canopy." An equally dramatic 86 cm, 5K curved display wraps around the driver. That includes an insane quarter-mile run in 9.69 seconds at over 233 km/h (145 mph), and 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds. Step on the accelerator, and the 1,111-horsepower Lucid sprints ahead like the cartoon Roadrunner, leaving most internal-combustion cars looking like hapless Wile E. (Tesla hopes to open its first greenfield car factory in Austin by year end.) The spacious sedan actually exceeded expectations, combining shelter-magazine interior luxury, slick handling and boggling acceleration. I got my first taste of the Air in the Sonoran Desert, a few hours from Lucid's $700 million factory in Casa Grande, the first from-the-ground-up EV plant to open in North America. But its technological advantages are settled: With an EPA-rated range of up to 837 km ( 520 miles), the Lucid Air sedan can travel farther on a charge, and charge faster, than any EV in history.
Whether Lucid Motors will succeed in the brutally competitive auto business remains an open question.
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