ESCAPE
HIGH ROAD
AIR FORCE Capable of gliding up to 520 miles on a single charge, the 2022 Lucid Air is a true game changer By Howard Walker I’ve gazed at the future of four-wheeled luxury, and it’s got a plug attached. Right around now, Lucid Motors out in Casa Grande, Arizona, is ramping up production of its groundbreaking all-electric Lucid Air fourdoor luxury sedan. You might have seen the headlines. The flagship Air Dream Performance Edition will deliver a staggering 1,100 horsepower. That’s enough to catapult it from standstill to 60 mph in an eyewatering, heart-palpitating 2.5 seconds. That’s not just supercar fast, it’s hypercar fast. Yet, take the long and winding road to grandma’s house and the battery will give a real-world, EPA-approved, best-in-the-industry range of 520 miles. That’s LA to San Fran on a sin-
gle charge. Range anxiety? What range anxiety? While this highfalutin halo model stickers at $170,500—the initial run of 520 sold out faster than tickets to an Ariana Grande concert—there are plenty more affordable, less acceleratively unnerving versions to choose from. Take, for example, last year’s starter Lucid, the Air Pure, which boasts 480 horses, a still-impressive 406mile range, and a price tag of $78,900. That’s a nontrivial $12 grand less than the equivalent Tesla Model S, or more than $23,000 less than the brand-new electric Mercedes EQS, which has a range of 350 miles—almost 60 less than the Lucid. This is all in addition to Lucid’s staggering ability to fast charge. Plug it in and you can add up to 300 miles of battery in 20 minutes. In a se-
rious rush to pick up the kids? Just 60 seconds of 350-volt, fast-charger juice can deliver 20 miles of range. What this carmaker has produced with its Lucid Air is the luxury sedan of the future. See it in the metal or, in my case, on the floor at the Lucid Studio showroom in West Palm Beach, and you can’t help but be impressed. Size-wise, the Air is almost a perfect match
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