When it debuts next week, the Lucid Air aims to shake up the premium electric car market and has the potential to be a huge threat to the Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan. Thanks to its revolutionary platform, the Lucid Air has more cabin space than any electric sedan on the market.
It's also the world's first production EV to break the 500-mile range barrier, with an EPA-rated range of 517 miles, as well as the world's fastest-charging EV capable of charging up to 300 miles in 20 minutes. With just one week until the world debut, Lucid has fully detailed the in-house-developed electric drivetrain that will power the luxury electric sedan.
Utilizing a dual-motor setup, an all-wheel-drive system, and a 113-kWh extended-range battery pack, the Lucid Air produces up to 1,080 horsepower, allowing it to repeatedly blitz the quarter-mile in just 9.9 seconds. This makes it the only electric sedan on the market capable of clocking quarter-mile times of less than 10 seconds. For comparison, the 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo S will do the quarter-mile in 10.7 seconds, while the Tesla Model S Performance needs 10.4 seconds to run the quarter-mile.
"Our watchword has been 'focus' since day one at Lucid - a focus on sound engineering principles, a focus on creating efficiencies, and a focus on maximizing power to create a world-class EV," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors.
"When the Lucid Air comes to market next spring, the world will see that we have developed the best electric vehicle technology possible by a wide margin and effectively created a new benchmark for EVs. The result is nothing short of a technological tour de force in every facet upon which a luxury performance car is measured."
Developed in-house, the Lucid Air uses two permanent magnet electric motors combined with an inverter and an integrated transmission and differential, resulting in a 900V+ electric drive unit that weighs just 163 pounds. Lucid claims it's small enough to fit inside a standard airline carry-on roller bag. This is also the first time a transmission and differential has been fully integrated into an electric motor.
Each drive unit has over 650 hp and up to three units can power a Lucid Air, so even more powerful variants could potentially be in the pipeline. Lucid claims these drive units are 45 percent lighter and up to 59 percent more powerful than the electric sedan's closest competitor. The motors are also "two and a half times more volumetrically compact" than its main competitor and can spin up to 20,000 rpm for unrivaled performance.
To maximize the power output and reduce electrical losses, the electric powertrain incorporates new motor winding technology, while an innovative cooling system removes heat from the stator winding more effectively.
More details will be revealed during the Lucid Air's online debut on September 9, when we'll get to see the final exterior and interior designs and find out the final performance specifications, configurations including additional single-motor and dual-motor variants, and pricing details.