Yesterday I showed you the 2023 Motor Trend Car of the Year and was blown away by its opulence and features. Today, I am in the 2022 Motor Trend Car of the Year in the Lucid Air Grand Touring model which is putting Tesla on notice.
This may be the EV to make Eve more mainstream. Well, maybe not mainstream, but more realistic for luxury car buyers. All the specs on this make up for the shortcomings of your typical EV and should make potential Tesla or even Mercedes EQ shoppers take pause to check out this new brand.
First, the stats: 800 horsepower from two electric motors giving the Air Grand Touring all-wheel drive and 469 miles of EPA-estimated range. Usually with performance EVs, you have to choose range OR power, here you get both. With that range, you get a vehicle that could legitimately replace a gas-powered car in your driveway. This really could be a one-car solution to the EV issue. Often when reviewing and testing EVs we ask ourselves if we could own the one we are driving, and usually the answer is “yes, but we would need to keep a gas car for trips, especially in Texas.” Not so in the Lucid Air Grand Touring.
Being a one-car solution would also help justify the price for some. At $140,500 as tested, this is not the most affordable car on the road, but it does make up for that with its luxurious interior appointments.
Moving inside, the driver and front passenger get black full-grain Nappa leather seats that are 20-way adjustable, heated, and ventilated, with massage. Rear seat passengers get camel-colored leather seats with 5-zone heat and legroom that would make a limousine blush. The driver has a full array of screens behind the wheel to access critical information or adjust the infotainment for the cabin. It is the most cohesive use of screens we have seen since testing the Cadillac Escalade, and I really appreciate the tapering design versus the look of a glued-on iPad many manufacturers are leaning into.
The build quality of this Lucid was also impeccable. Teslas are known for their inconsistent build quality and large panel gaps on some of their vehicles. This Lucid Air had none of that. It was as much a modern luxury vehicle as anything we have tested from Mercedes-Benz.
Sadly, I only had a few minutes with this one to capture what I could and I desperately want more time behind the wheel. Hopefully, there will be more to come from us and Lucid in the future.
2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring Specs:
800 Horsepower
Dual Motor All-wheel Drive
3 Years of Complimentary DC Fast Charging with Electrify America
900V+ Charging System
Selectable Drive Modes
Adaptive Dampers
5 Personalized Driver Profiles
Over-the-air Software Updates
21" Aero Blade Wheels
Glass Canopy roof with Heat & Sunlight Blocking Technology
Platinum Polish canopy Roof Trim
Heated Precision Wipers
Power Trunk & Frunk Open & Close
Soft Close Doors
Auto-dimming, Power Folding, & Heated Exterior Mirrors
Intelligent Micro Lens Array LED Headlights including:
Adaptive Front Lighting
Automatic Headlights with Daytime LED Signature
Speedform LED Taillight
32 DreamDrive™ Sensors
Power Charge Port Door
Rear Fog Lamps
Power Retractable Illuminated Door Handles
34-inch Glass Cockpit Display Screen for Instrument Cluster and Infotainment
Retractable Pilot Panel Screen
Nappa Full-Grain Leather Seats
Interior Wood Accents
20-way Power Front Ventilated & Heated Seats with Massage
Heated Steering Wheel
5-Zone Heated Rear Seats
Lucid UX with Navigation
Surreal Sound™ System with 21 Speakers
Wireless Smartphone Charging
4-Zone Automatic Climate Control
Power Rear Sunshades
60/40 Split-folding Rear Seatback with passthrough
DreamDrive™ Pro Including
Future-ready Hardware for Semi-autonomous Driving
Blind Spot Monitoring with Blind-spot Display
Automatic Park In & Out
Park Distance Warning
Surround View Monitor
Driver Monitoring System with Distracted Driver Alert and Drowsy Driver Alert
Proximity Key with Push Button Start
EPA-estimated 469 Miles of Range on a Single Charge
Starting MSRP $87,400
Price as tested: $140,500
