Lucid Motors has unleashed a prototype of the Air with three engines on the drag strip. This variant has not yet been officially announced, but it did appear in a video on Lucid’s Twitter account. The large sedan devours the quarter mile at a pace that scares super sports cars. It seems that Lucid wants to put the Tesla Model S Plaid to the test with this version.
It seems like an arms race has started between EV manufacturers. Lucid Motors is a relatively new player in this market, but has big dreams. The Air was recently unveiled, a luxury sedan with which Lucid Tesla wants to make life difficult. From one video on Twitter it turns out that this claim can make sense. With a three-engine prototype of the Air, Lucid set a time of 9.245 seconds on the quarter mile. After these 400 meters, the EV already drove 251.6 km / h. Just to offer a frame of reference: that is faster than the 1,500 hp strong Bugatti Chiron. Lucid has not yet released further specifications of the three-engine version of the Air. At the announcement of the model, CEO Peter Rawlinson already hinted at a ‘Performance model’, which should be unveiled at the end of 2021.
From the text accompanying Lucid’s Tweet, it can also be concluded that the powertrain is still under development. The above figures are therefore most likely not the highest achievable. Tesla promises with the Model S Plaid comparable acceleration figures, but this version has not yet been spotted on the drag strip. Tesla’s new top model has broken a record at the Laguna Seca circuit. Lucid Motors has yet to prove itself as a manufacturer in contrast to Tesla. However, the ambitions and current ‘evidence’ of that are promising. The current top model of the Air, for example, has a battery pack of 113 kWh, which would allow a theoretical range of 832 km. In the twin-engine configuration, the Air already delivers 1,080 hp. This accelerates the luxury sedan to 96 km / h in 2.5 seconds and a top speed of just under 270 km / h is achieved. In the US, this ‘Dream Edition’ will cost $ 169,000. Dutch prices are not yet known.