Lucid Motors Air: electric luxury car nears production

Luxury electric saloon will cost from £43,000

Tesla will soon have a fairly direct rival, in the form of the Chinese-American firm Lucid Motors. Their luxurious electric saloon, the Air, will go on sale in 2018, although orders are now being taken.

Lucid tied up with Samsung SDI for the battery array, with Samsung already supplying the batteries for BMW’s i3 and i8 models. Class-leading performance is claimed.

In its basic form, the Air will have a single electric motor which should be good for 400bhp, but other versions will double this up with two motors capable of producing around 1000bhp. That should get you to 62mph in just 2.5sec. But the important number in electric cars is still the range, with 240 miles quoted now, although an option pack could raise this to 400 miles, the company claims.

The cabin has some flexibility in the seating, with two reclining luxury seats an option in the rear, which should help the occupants enjoy the benefit of the air suspension, which should have regenerative valve technology.

The Air should be ready for autonomous technology, which can slot in as and when it comes to market. That’s a few years in the future perhaps, but if you want to secure one of the first Airs then you’ll need to put down a £2000 deposit but bear in mind that, so far, Lucid Motors is only taking orders in Canada and the US. That headline cost of about £43,000 will certainly raise some eyebrows at Tesla.

Graham Scott is a writer for AutoCar.