As the all-electric Lucid Air inches closer to production-ready status, Lucid Motors has announced that their first-ever luxury sedan will hit the road for the 2021 model year with an EPA estimated 517-mile range on a full charge.
Although the Air has not been officially rated by the EPA, independent testing was done to EPA test standards by FEV North America in Auburn Hills, Michigan. So, unless they change something along the way, one can assume that 517 miles will be the official range, or close to it when the Air goes on sale.
“I’m delighted that the Lucid Air has been independently verified by FEV to achieve an estimated EPA range of 517 miles, and that this landmark in the history of EV development has been achieved entirely through Lucid’s in-house technology.” ~ Peter Rawlinson, Lucid Motors CEO / CTO
But it’s not just EV technology that has helped the Lucid Air achieve a record-setting range. Exterior design plays a big part, as well. While testing at Windshear’s advanced rolling-road wind tunnel, Lucid verified a coefficient of drag of 0.21, making the Lucid Air the world’s most aero-efficient luxury car.
~ photos courtesy of Lucid Motors
“Our aero team worked seamlessly with design and engineering counterparts, establishing aero efficiency as a core tenet of Lucid Air from its very inception, enabling us to achieve this new standard.” ~ Peter Rawlinson
Race Proven
In a company press release, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson praised the engineering behind the Air saying, “I believe that our 900-volt architecture, our race-proven battery packs, miniaturized motors, and power electronics, integrated transmission systems, aerodynamics, chassis, and thermal systems, software, and overall system efficiency has now reached a stage where it collectively sets a new standard and delivers a host of ‘world’s firsts.'”
In saying “race-proven”, Rawlinson is referring to the battery technology that Lucid supplies to the all-electric Formula E racing series through their Silicon Valley-based electric vehicle technology company Atieva. Thanks to the battery and powertrain advancements made by Lucid, Formula E drivers no longer need to swap cars mid-race. Personally, I always thought the swap looked bad for efforts to promote the feasibility of EV transportation.
Engineering a standard battery pack is difficult enough, so one can imagine it would be a massive feat to engineer a battery pack that can handle the abuse of high-performance racing, especially considering Lucid accomplished this all in house.
Building a battery and related technology for a racing series such as Formula E will certainly benefit EV drivers of the future. The strategy of track-testing new tech is nothing new to the automotive world. Innovations such as direct-injected engines, disk brakes and halogen headlights were all introduced and proven in races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Lucid vs. Tesla
So what about the former EV range leader? Not too long ago, back in June 2020, the Tesla Model S took the honor of being the first EV to break past 400 miles of range. Now, with headlines such as “Lucid Challenges Tesla with a Luxury EV Sedan that has a Record 517 Miles of Range per Charge” and “Lucid Makes Tesla Eat Dust With Air’s Estimated 517-Mile EPA Range”, it seems Tesla critics and some folks in the automotive media are trying to make this a dog-fight between Lucid Motors and Tesla.
~ photos courtesy of Lucid (left); Tesla (right)
The Lucid Air’s 517-mile range certainly bests the Long Range Plus Tesla Model S, which can travel up to 402 miles on a full charge. But Lucid’s lead could be short-lived as Tesla’s long-awaited ‘Battery Day’ (9/22/20) is sure to bring us some insight into the future of Tesla and whatever battery advancements lie ahead.
We’re anticipating that Elon Musk’s ‘one more thing’ at Battery Day could be a redesigned Model S, even though that seems unlikely as Tesla has other, more important vehicles to get to.
Despite what some folks in the automotive press may want people to believe, beating Tesla isn’t really the intention of the Lucid Air according to Lucid’s Rawlinson. Instead Lucid is targeting legacy luxury brands such as Mercedes and BMW. Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk on the Street Rawlinson praised Tesla while setting his sights squarely on the legacy German brands.
“We’re actually a luxury player. Tesla is great, it’s a high tech product, it’s disruptive and it’s beautifully engineered, but it’s not true luxury and luxury space is dominated by the traditional German car companies, Mercedes and BMW and there’s a wide-open space for a sustainable electric vehicle in that space.” ~ Peter Rawlinson.
Considering Rawlinson served as the Chief Engineer at Tesla and for the Model S, I guess you can’t blame him for saying nice things about his baby, or should I say, first child? The Model S will be celebrating its 9th birthday when the Air starts rolling out of Lucid’s (almost finished) Casa Grande, Arizona factory sometime in 2021.
New York International Auto Show – 2017
RPM News Weekly was fortunate to be on hand when Lucid debuted the preproduction Air concept alongside their rolling test-bed Lucid Air Alpha Speed Car at the 2017 New York International Auto Show. We were impressed with the concept back in 2017 and look forward to seeing and experiencing the finished product.
The production-ready Lucid Air makes its global debut on September 9, 2020. Until then, here’s a look back at the 2017 debut of the Lucid Air Concept.
