It’s been over four years since EV startup Lucid’s Alpha Speed Car took a test drive that reached 217 MPH. In the meantime, the California-based company has seen nearly billions in investment capital, which has positioned them as one of the most credible domestic competitor to well-established EV juggernaut Tesla.
The money allowed Lucid to reach its goals, though, and not suffer the ignominious fade of some of the ambitious EV startups that have emerged in this century. It also gives it footing as it squares off against Californian cousin Faraday Future, which is presently threatening to pull off an underdog coupe and remain U.S.-owned in the bargain: it has a billion dollars’ worth of new funding by way of New York-based Property Solutions Acquisition Corp.
But Lucid is, for the time being, a step ahead, and this week saw news from the company that promises to put its new 800,000 sq. ft. production facility in Arizona to full capacity use: the company’s 933-horsepower launch edition Air Dream Edition R sedan will have a range of 520 miles at full power when 19-inch wheels are used.
The 520-mile range seems to be the magic figure for a top-tier EV luxury sedan; it was the expected range of the much-discussed Tesla Model S Plaid+ that made promising news in February as a potential be-all-and-end-all Tesla performance car but was abruptly discontinued in favor of the 390-mile range S Plaid within months of being announced. It’ll be interesting to see whether Lucid can stay the course; not having its own network of dedicated charging stations may well make the difference, as Tesla is surely to some degree considering refueling revenue as part and parcel of range considerations.
Lucid has announced no plans for a charging station network at this point. The company’s website does illuminate on the matter of refueling, though; it has a home charger that can give a driver 300 miles of travel in just 20 minutes. Like the Edition R’s top range, the number is fairly stunning.
The press release also contends that the company’s other upper-level models, the 800-HP Air Grand Touring and 1,111-HP Air Dream Edition P, will have industry-leading ranges as well: up to 516 miles for the former, and up to 471 for the latter.
The Lucid Air Dream Edition R base stickers at $169K. Deliveries of the Air sedan are scheduled for this year; whether or not the initial deliveries are set to include the Edition R was not elucidated in the company’s recent press release.
