2022 Lucid Air Review: So Good That It Will Spoil Your Appetite

Kevin Williams
by Kevin Williams
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

FAST FACTS

Motor(s): Dual ActiveCore
Output Range: 480 – 1,111 hp
Drivetrain: AWD
US Range (MI): 406 – 516
CAN Range (KM): 653 – 850
Starting Price (USD): $87,400 (inc. dest.)
Grand Touring Price (USD): $154,000 (inc. dest.)
Starting Price (CAD): $121,500 (inc. dest.)
Grand Touring Price (CAD): $212,500 (inc. dest.)

Lucid’s first effort at car building just embarrassed a lot of legacy automakers’ attempts at the same thing.

“Don’t eat that before dinner, it’ll spoil your appetite,” a familiar refrain of mothers worldwide. Mom knows best, the second a kid has scarfed down those sweets, they won’t want to eat anything else. In a way, the Lucid Air is kind of like that — it is so darn good that it’ll spoil the automotive enthusiast’s metaphorical appetite.

2022 Lucid Air: What is it?

The Lucid Air Grand Touring (and Grand Touring Performance), is a large, fully-electric luxury sedan. It’s in the same vein and directly competes with the Tesla Model S, and Mercedes-Benz EQS. True, the Lucid Air has already been on sale for a short while, nabbing Motor Trend’s “Car of the Year” for 2022, but most Lucid Air on sale have been of the “Dream Edition”. The Dream Edition is a limited-run, limited-production only sold to early adopters and initial reservation holders. These Grand Touring and Grand Touring Performance trims are the top-of-the-line trim available to all customers. The two trims are mostly the same, save for the Grand Touring Performance special 21″ Aero wheels, and its goliath-sized 1,050 horsepower and $179,999 US ($242,000 CAD) base price. By contrast, the Grand Touring only has 819 horsepower and a trimmer $154,000 US price. But, when equipped with the 19″ wheels, the Grand Touring is rated for a range of 516 miles, compared to 446 for the Grand Touring Performance.

Get a Quote on a New 2022 Lucid Air
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

Nonetheless, the EV revolution is a top-down affair, as luxury manufacturers have planned to drop their gas-engined offerings en masse. Thus, no longer shackled by traditional ergonomics and proportions dictated by gas engines, manufacturers are free to completely rethink what ‘luxury’ is. There is no real history here, the idea of electric luxury is a totally new concept, and it’s anyone’s game who will define it first. For some, like BMW and Mercedes, they’ve crafted a new aesthetic and design ethos that is very love-it-or-hate-it. By contrast, Tesla’s sleek, minimalist, almost European look, seems to be the standard dejure that most EV aspirational automakers tend to emulate.

SEE ALSO: 2022 Lucid Air Hands-On: 5 Things That Stand Out About the Luxury EV
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

Lucid, however, has ignored that, aiming for a distinctly California, distinctively American style. The Newark, California-based company’s sedan seemingly pulls directly from the 1960s, the Mid-century modern era, for inspiration. The Lucid Air’s side profile is slim, sleek, and svelte, yet, the design doesn’t shy away from brightwork, either. Silver trim adorns the windows, and comprises the slim front fascia that houses a sort of faux-hidden headlight setup. The Air’s window brightwork leads to a mid-century modern-esque script of the vehicle’s model and trim, aft of the C-pillar, that terminates right at the base of the vehicle’s rear window. The sedan is low and appears long, wide, and large, a striking contrast in the area where every electrified vehicle is seemingly a tall crossover or out-of-scale hatchback.

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite
2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

Inside, the mid-century modern themes continue. In front of the driver sits a thin, curved, and angled information center with three screens, one for ancillary functions like wipers and headlights, one for speed and range, and a third which serves as infotainment. At first glance, the information center looks almost freestanding, with a delicately center-mounted support that’s basically invisible to the driver. The top half of the dashboard is finished with soft-touch leather, real wood, subtle metal accents, and even Alcantara. On the bottom half of the dashboard, sits a low-mounted screen that houses HVAC controls, and other less-than-often-used functions. The screen is easily hidden away with a simple swipe, and although there HVAC is touch screen based, there are physical hard keys for volume, fan speed, and temperature. The whole bottom half of the dashboard is surrounded by a tweed-like material, that when coupled with the Nappa leather seats, harks back to the old American glamour from the 1960s. Ray and Charles Eames would be proud.

On the Road

Lucid flew us all Bay Area, to the great driving roads of the NorCal coast. Our drive would snake from the Newark, California area, eventually reaching the coastal town of Half Moon Bay. Our chariots included the Lucid Air Grand Touring and the Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance. My drive started out in the Grand Touring Performance; a whopping beast with a 118kWh battery, and 1,050 horsepower.

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

Now, we’re no strangers to the EV driving experience. Electric motors have instant torque, which means no matter the power, most EVs feel direct, and peppy on the road. And yet, there’s no real way to quite understand the sheer power the Lucid Air Grand Performance has. Not so long ago, 350 horsepower was reserved for muscle cars and exotic supercars. But, 1,050 horsepower? What does that even mean?

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

It means, that the Lucid Air, absolutely scoots. Launching in the Lucid Air will redefine a person’s concept of speed; Lucid claims that 0-60 comes in a hard-to-grasp 2.6 seconds. The slightly less powerful Lucid Air Grand Touring “only” has 819 horsepower, (and a smaller 112kWh battery), and is good for a 0-60 time of 3 seconds flat. The sense of speed is akin to a modern launched roller coaster, like Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster or Six Flags’s Kingda Ka. Yet, despite the Lucid Air’s staggering power levels, it never feels overwhelming on the road. Throttle calibration is progressive and forgiving, and the topmost levels of power are locked behind a drive mode that requires driver confirmation to use.

SEE ALSO: Lucid Air Named Greenest EV in the United States

Never feeling overwhelming is really the whole ethos of the car. EVs tend to be a lot heavier than traditional fuel-powered vehicles because batteries are very, very heavy. Thus, although EVs are generally quick in a straight line, sometimes their heft can make itself known in the curves, with a suspension that feels a little floaty and bouncy, as the springs, dampers, and chassis, work hard to keep all that weight in check.

The Lucid Air isn’t like that.

The car feels trim, light, and svelte – which is funny because it is more than 5,200 pounds. Whereas cars like the Polestar 2, Mustang Mach-E, and even Tesla Model S feel like large, heavy cars, the Lucid Air feels deceptively light. When driving fast, the car feels as if it shrinks around the driver, as sort of a weird electro-car body extension, not at all what one would expect from a super luxury sedan. The chassis and suspension tuning are unflappable, the Lucid refuses to be upset by mid-corner bumps, high-speed transitions, or weight transfers. The Lucid Air will make even the worst driver feel like they’re The Stig.

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

So, it’s basically perfect?

Dynamically, the Lucid Air is probably one of the best driving, four-door vehicles one can buy with money. Yet, there are some things that could be dealbreakers.

For starters, the infotainment UX (user experience), although pretty and ergonomically good, can be slow. Navigation in particular isn’t always the easiest to use; the low-mounted screen should handle address inputs, but the keypad’s performance was inconsistent. The UX also was missing some functionality, too. There is no way to view song or track titles while using the navigation screen. Also, there’s no support for iPhone album art when connected via Bluetooth. Maybe a silly complaint, but for a car that costs $179,999 (Grand Touring Performance), it should work. Lucid did preview a UX software update at the event that addressed these concerns and a few more from the handful of Lucid owners. An over-the-air update will come soon.

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

Then, there aren’t any real autonomous driving features. For some (many), this is great news, because most don’t really work all that well, anyways. But, for that select techie-early adopter few, a lack of Lucid “autopilot” could be a dealbreaker. Lucid claims that a more sophisticated Level 2 Autonomy is coming, dubbed “DreamDrive”, but for now, the car will have to make do with run-of-the-mill ADAS systems.

SEE ALSO: 2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance Throws Down With 1,050 HP

Finally, the battery’s underfloor packaging in the Grand Touring and Grand Touring performance lends itself to a rear seat that is somewhat close to the floor. Coupled with front seats that have zero underfoot room, and the Lucid Air takes a bit of getting used to. Interestingly, the lower-priced Lucid Air Pure has a smaller battery with cutouts that allow for a better seating position.

2022 lucid air review so good that it will spoil your appetite

2022 Lucid Air Review Verdict: The new benchmark for practically all vehicles. Period.

The 2022 Lucid Air is so good, that driving it can make every other vehicle seem horrible and bad, by comparison. It’s the automotive equivalent of having ice cream before dinner, how do you compare any other vehicle to a super sedan that’s legitimately good at nearly everything? That’s the thing, you kind of, well, can’t. The Lucid Air Grand Touring is a big electric sedan that feels expensive and is probably one of the fastest things that a normal person, anywhere, ever, will drive in their lifetime.

Discuss this review on our Lucid Forum

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LOVE IT

  • Dynamically superior to nearly all EVs
  • Breathtaking power
  • Understated styling

LEAVE IT

  • Somewhat unfinished UX
  • Very high price
  • No level 3 or above autonomy
Kevin Williams
Kevin Williams

Kevin has been obsessed with cars ever since he could talk. He even learned to read partially by learning and reading the makes and models on the back of cars, only fueling his obsession. Today, he is an automotive journalist and member of the Automotive Press Association. He is well-versed in electrification, hybrid cars, and vehicle maintenance.

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