I just recently invested a week in San Jose with Samsung, where it revealed its newest series of Galaxy S mobile phones (the most effective of which we’ve evaluated here. While I was remaining in California, I saw Numerous electrical vehiclesconsisting of Rivians, Hummer EVs, and the incredibly unsightly Tesla Cybertruck — however amongst my EV sightseeing, I went by a car dealership showing the stunning Lucid Air– and I’m in love.
Now, before we get too far into this post, the Air isn’t due to strike Australian coasts anytime Soon. Drive reported in July that the vehicle is at least 2 years far from boiling down under. If you’re not familiar with the business, it’s led by CEO Peter Rawlinson, who formerly led advancement on the Tesla Model S (the Air’s direct rival) and was formerly a Lotus and Jaguar engineer.
Lucid just has one automobile out at the minute in the United States, its only market at the time of composing, together with an efficiency trim of stated cars and truck (the ‘Sapphire’ variation of the Air), and an SUV called the Gravity en route in 2024. The business is likewise, like numerous EV start-ups losing tonnes of cash for each vehicle it offers — while the brand name is hemorrhaging money, we still desire them to come down under (quite please).
That does not indicate I will not gush about the Lucid Air. A four-door premium sedan with a stunning cross-bonnet light bar, in addition to a gorgeous sport roofing system and a masterful-looking body that handles a drag coefficient of 0.197 (versus the Tesla Model S’ 0.207 coefficient), this EV is stunning.
There is, nevertheless, Much screen in this bloody cars and truck. No cars and truck requires this much screen– 4 screens covering the dash and the centre console– consisting of an instrument cluster, a nav menu, necessary functions over on the left side, and other settings in the centre console screen. Certainly we could compress these into 2 screens and some buttons? It did feel more sci-fi than lots of other EVs. Compared to EVs I’ve driven in Australia, the interior felt near to a Polestar 2.
The two-tone on this specific design, the Lucid Air Touring, was rather great. A tan leatherette secondary colour, that is very gratifying right up till you think about how unpleasant it would be to tidy.
It would be remiss of me not to point out the enormous frunk in this thing. Simply take a look at this bad young boy– 10 cubic feet, or 283 litres. For contrast, the Model S has 150 litres of area.
Like numerous EV display rooms, Lucid likewise had a battery design and a drive system on display screen. The fastest trim of the Air can a 0-60mph (96km/h) speed of simply 1.89 seconds, and on the EPA test cycle, the cars and truck can take a trip 520 miles without requiring a recharge– about 836 kilometres, though it’s worth keeping in mind that the EPA test cycle is various to the WLTP test cycle that we’re more likely to utilize when speaking about EVs in Australia. The automobile’s max speed is 378km/h and it can charge at approximately 300kW on a DC public battery charger.
There was likewise a racing battery pack on screen– purpose-built for the Formula E seriesWhile I thought about bringing it home, I do not believe it would have fit in my aircraft baggage.
Gosh, I want the Lucid Air was readily available in Australia. I get that it’s not cost-effective at the minute for the business, however I can dream, can’t I? That being stated, I question need and roi; after all, Tesla does not even offer the Model S in Australia anymore– so what possibility does its most significant rival have?
as kept in mind by Car Expertthe business is mulling over right-hand drive market advancement, with it hypothesized that the business might fill deep space exposed by the missing high-end Tesla designs (the X and S).
Regardless, this is among the most beautiful EVs I’ve ever seen. I’ll take 2.
Image: Zachariah Kelly/Gizmodo Australia
Desire more Aussie automobile news? Here’severy EV we’ve evaluatedin the last 2 years,all the EVs we can anticipatedown under quickly, and our guide todiscovering EV battery chargersthroughout the nation. Have a look at our devotedVehicles tabfor more.