Cheapest Lucid Air Pure EV still gets a whopping 419-mile range
Lucid’s all-electric luxury saloon gains new entry-level Pure version
American electric car maker, Lucid Motors, has revealed the full line up of the Lucid Air with Air Pure, Air Touring, Air Grand Touring and finally the Air Sapphire models. While the Air will come to some European markets, the UK market is yet to be confirmed by Lucid.
That’s a shame, judging from the result of our test of the Lucid Air Touring back in September. Lucid has now broadened the Air’s lineup with the Pure starting from $77,400 (roughly £61,357 excluding tax) and the Touring at $85,900 (roughly £68,105 excluding tax). The Grand Touring is priced from $115,600 (roughly £91,647 excluding tax) and the range-topping Sapphire comes in at $249,000, placing it a smidge under £200,000.
It might be the cheapest model in the range, but the the Air Pure still gets an 88kWh battery pack that allows for a range of 419 miles (under EPA testing). This is pretty impressive given that the longest range EV in the UK currently is the Mercedes EQS with a WLTP-rated 452 miles, which gets knocked down to 350 miles under EPA testing. The Air Pure gets a single electric motor with 430bhp for a 0-60mph time of 4.5 seconds.
As standard the Pure also gets a ‘Comfort and Convenience Package’ consisting of 20-way front power seats with ventilation and massage and Nappa leather. Further features on the Pure include a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, soft-close doors, four-zone climate control and powered sunshades.
The more expensive Air Touring gets a larger 92kWh battery and another electric motor for all-wheel drive and 620bhp. Range drops to 411 miles (EPA), but the acceleration improves to a 3.4-second 0-60mph time. On top of the Pure’s equipment there’s also a powered front boot and “heated precision wipers”.
The Grand Touring comes with all-wheel drive but bumps power up to 819bhp – dropping its 0-60mph time just three seconds. Lucid hasn’t said what battery the Grand Touring uses but we expect it’s the same 118kWh unit found in the Sapphire. Range is the best here with up to 516 miles (EPA) and charging improves too with a 200-mile recharge taking 12 minutes compared to 15 minutes for the Touring and Pure. Up to 21-inch alloy wheels can be specified on the Grand Touring and there’s also a panoramic glass roof as standard.
With the Sapphire model there’s a tri-motor set up with 1,234bhp, which reduces range to 427 miles over the Grand Touring and reduces the 0-60mph time to a Tesla Model S Plaid-beating 1.89 seconds with a top speed of 205mph.
When we spoke to Lucid’s British CEO earlier this year he spoke of the potential to bring the Air to the UK. “It breaks my heart, maybe we can outsource the right-hand drive project to an engineering company to do it for us. The potential market in the UK is probably bigger than even Germany in terms of a latent desire to go EV.”
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