The Lucid Air Is An Electric Luxury Sedan With Supercar-Like Speed

The electric-car startup released an “Alpha Speed Car” prototype of its Air luxury sedan that just achieved a claimed 217 mph at the Transportation Research Center test track in Ohio.

The Lucid Air is compiling a long list of impressive statistics. The top version will have 1,000 horsepower and a range of 400 miles, Lucid has said, and achieve 100 MPGe. Lucid also plans to offer a 315-mile version, as well as a base model with rear-wheel drive, a 240-mile range, and 400hp.

While the most expensive versions of the Air will cross into six-figure territory, the production will begin in 2019 and the base model will start at $60,000. Lucid is taking deposits of $2,500 per vehicle, and plans to start production with 255 “Launch Edition” models, which will have the 315-mile battery and 1,000hp.

Lucid needs to build a factory before it can build cars. It chose a site in Casa Grande, Arizona, last year, and is in the process of raising $700 million to fund the plant. Construction hasn’t started yet, leaving Lucid little time to meet its 2019 production deadline. The company expects to build around 10,000 cars in the first year, ramping up to around 50,000 per year after that.

 Lucid currently sits in a crowded group of electric-car startups that also includes Faraday Future and Nio, not to mention well-established Tesla. Traditional automakers are also getting in on the luxury electric-car game, with Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche all planning to launch new models over the next few years. Lucid will need more than a top-speed trump card to compete with them.