A handful of details about the
production-spec Lucid Air have surfaced prior to the car’s premiere at April’s
New York Auto Show, with the company also releasing a teaser of the car. In the
video, we see some of the production model’s details while also learning that
the launch model will be named “Dream Edition”.
Separately, Electrek recently had the
opportunity to sit down with Lucid chief executive and chief technology officer
Peter Rawlinson about the Air. For those that don’t know, Rawlinson was the
chief engineer of the Tesla Model S program from 2009 to 2012 and is fully
aware of what it takes to create an all-electric vehicle.
The first thing revealed by Rawlinson
about the road-ready Lucid Air is that it will have an “over” 900-volt system,
far superior to the 400-volt system used by Tesla or even the 800-volt system
of the Porsche Taycan. The executive added the Air will be capable of traveling
in excess of 643 km on a single charge based on their EPA cycle
estimation.
When the Lucid Air was first unveiled in
2016, the company said the flagship 130 kWh version would be good for 400 miles
of range. Rawlinson revealed that efficiency gains made in recent years mean
Lucid can now achieve over 400 miles of range with a battery pack smaller than
130 kWh.
Lucid had intended on selling the Air in a
variety of guises that would allow it to directly rival the Tesla Model S with
entry-level models priced from as little as US$ 52,500 including applicable
federal tax credits up to US$ 7,500. However, Rawlinson said that the company has
dropped lower-end versions of the electric sedan and will focus on plush,
luxurious models priced at over US$ 100,000 and aiming to rival vehicles such as
the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Production of the Air will be handled by the
marque’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The first models should roll out of
the factory in the final quarter of the year.
