Lucid wants to put the absolute top in the EV field on the market with the Air. The car will be unveiled in September, but it is already clear that we can at least expect the cream of the crop in terms of range.
With the Air, Lucid Motors is targeting customers who would usually look at cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-class and BMW 7-series, but prefer to drive electrically. Of course, Mercedes and BMW themselves will eventually also come up with cars that respond to this, but Lucid hopes to be ahead of that with the Air. It will be a super luxurious EV with numerous gadgets and (preparation for) autonomous driving. To make the whole story complete, the Air must also be bloody fast; 0-100 km / h in 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 320 km / h.
All well and good, but it is of course also interesting how far the newcomer can get on one battery charge. Well, Lucid now has a fairly concrete answer to that: 517 miles, or 728 kilometers. With this, the Air far surpasses the upcoming Tesla Model S Long Range Plus and will probably be the absolute winner when it comes to electric driving range. There is an important side note. The stated range was measured in a test by FEV, an international company that focuses, among other things, on the development of powertrains. FEV also provides action radio testing according to the American EPA standard. The latter is therefore the case here; FEV has tested the Air according to the EPA guidelines and based on that it comes to an expected EPA range of 517 miles.
Although keeping a blow to the arm is still in place, it may be even better. The range according to the EPA test is generally lower than the WLTP cycle used by us. From calculations of Electrek earlier this year it was found that the WLTP range is on average 1.12 times higher than that according to the EPA test. A quick calculation then tells us that the Air according to the WLTP cycle may well reach just over 800 km range. We will undoubtedly know more in September and an official EPA measurement will probably have been carried out.
Of course, this range is the top version of the Air, which is said to have a 130 kWh battery pack on board. According to Lucid, the enormous range is possible due to the extremely low air resistance, but also due to the battery voltage of no less than 900 volts. As a result, they say they can keep the battery relatively compact and light. As far as is known, there will also be a variant with a 100 kWh battery pack. Whether that will be the entry-level version, or that there will be another variant, remains to be seen. Lucid is in any case talking about an expected US starting price of € 55,000 converted. For that money you will undoubtedly have an Air that does not get that far and is also a bit less fast. The top version is said to cost in excess of € 100,000. We wait and see.