This is the 2022 Lucid Air
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 You are looking at an electric car
00:07 that can go 516 miles on a single charge.
00:12 It makes 800 horsepower.
00:15 The crazy part is there's another one
00:17 that can go even further,
00:19 and there's yet another one that makes 1,111 horsepower.
00:24 The question is, are these ridiculous numbers
00:29 the only reason why we named the Lucid Air
00:32 our 2022 Motor Trend Car of the Year?
00:37 Let's find out.
00:38 Perhaps the most important thing you should know
00:45 about Lucid is that their CEO/Chief Technical Officer
00:50 is a gentleman named Peter Rollinson.
00:52 Well, why does he matter?
00:54 Because Peter was the chief engineer of the Tesla Model S.
00:58 The dude knows how to build a great electric car.
01:01 What's different about the Lucid Air
01:04 compared to, say, the Tesla Model S?
01:06 Well, the powertrain components have been miniaturized.
01:09 Why does that matter?
01:10 A whole bunch of reasons.
01:12 One is it makes them more efficient,
01:14 and being more efficient leads to all sorts of good things.
01:18 One is that massive range,
01:19 another is the huge horsepower numbers,
01:21 but also having tiny components
01:23 means you have better packaging inside the vehicle.
01:27 For instance, check out this frunk.
01:29 This is Brady.
01:32 Brady is our PA.
01:34 Brady is six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds.
01:38 Later, Brady.
01:39 Anyways, pretty impressive for a front opening.
01:43 Now, obviously, the Air is gonna compete
01:49 against other luxury, high-end performance sedans.
01:53 We're talking about the Tesla Model S,
01:55 but also the Mercedes EQS, the Porsche Taycan,
01:59 and the Audi e-tron GT.
02:02 You will notice, however, only one of those, the Tesla,
02:06 has ever been called a Motor Trend Car of the Year.
02:09 When it comes to the design of the Lucid Air,
02:14 it looks incredibly futuristic because it is.
02:18 There's so many innovations going on here,
02:21 yet it looks so, well,
02:22 I described it in my world-exclusive first drive review
02:26 as a Citroen DS that has to star in Blade Runner,
02:29 and I stand by that,
02:31 but let me just show you a couple of things
02:32 that are going on.
02:33 One, this front end is the most efficient front end
02:37 in the history of the automobile.
02:39 The drag coefficient is .2,
02:42 that literally the lowest ever,
02:44 and then there's these headlights.
02:45 Look how tiny these headlights are,
02:47 but know this, Lucid has five people with PhDs
02:51 that do nothing but work on the headlights,
02:52 so even though they're teeny tiny,
02:54 they work better than any other headlight on the market.
02:57 Same is true of this small grille.
02:59 It looks just, you know, it's that big,
03:01 but it's got some Venturis behind it
03:03 that actually throw air onto the radiators
03:06 in the most efficient way possible,
03:07 so that tiny little opening works better
03:10 than a massive grille.
03:12 Coming down the side of the car, well, look at this.
03:14 Here's the windshield, and the windshield ends right here.
03:17 It's glass all the way up to here,
03:19 and then you look at this, and you go,
03:21 I know there's something different about it.
03:23 I don't know what it is.
03:24 Well, here's what it is.
03:26 They have made the componentry so small
03:28 that they're able to make the passenger compartment
03:30 even bigger, so the effect is that the wheels
03:33 look like they're pushed out further from each other.
03:35 Also, you have a two-tone roof.
03:37 Doesn't really do anything for efficiency or technology,
03:39 but it looks pretty cool.
03:40 Then you get to this, this giant cut line here,
03:43 which almost looks as if a panel is misaligned,
03:46 but it isn't.
03:47 It's actually a Lucid design signature,
03:49 and what they're signifying is their trunk opening
03:52 is the biggest there is, period.
03:56 And you know, when you're talking about the design
03:57 of the Lucid, it's really difficult to separate out
04:01 all the technology from the design itself,
04:04 and that's on purpose.
04:06 If the outside of the Lucid Air is from the future,
04:10 the inside is from the last century,
04:13 specifically the middle of it.
04:15 This is mid-century modern design, and it is fantastic.
04:20 The thing you need to know is, Lucid, the design team,
04:23 they're quite proud of the fact that the cars
04:26 were designed right here in California.
04:28 You can actually see the California bear
04:30 right here in the seats.
04:32 Very cool touch.
04:33 And the interiors, they have names like Santa Cruz,
04:37 Mojave, I believe I'm sitting in Tahoe.
04:40 The other cool thing about 'em is they wanted it
04:42 to feel like you have your own private jet.
04:44 So if you've ever been in a jet, right,
04:46 the cockpits tend to be dark,
04:47 and there's a lot of controls and information.
04:50 And then the rear of the plane, where the passengers sit,
04:52 it's lighter and it's open and airier,
04:54 and they've done that here.
04:56 So every single design is gonna be darker in the front
04:58 and lighter in the back, and the effect really does work.
05:02 I also love the material selection that Lucid's using.
05:05 Nice leather, Alcantara, contrast stitching
05:08 with some leather piping.
05:09 They actually have cool fabrics down here.
05:11 The metal's great.
05:12 The little bit of plastic that there is
05:14 is high quality.
05:15 They've done a wonderful job there.
05:17 Now, it is screen-a-palooza, lots of screens.
05:20 EVs gotta have lots of screens,
05:21 and yeah, most of the things you do,
05:23 you do 'em through the screen.
05:24 For instance, if I wanna adjust the steering wheel,
05:26 I push this button here, up, down, in, out,
05:29 on the screen, not on the wheel itself.
05:31 However, what Lucid did that's so smart,
05:34 the controls you use almost every single time
05:37 you get into a vehicle, they're right here.
05:39 Temperature, fan speed, volume, and they're big,
05:42 and they're intuitive, and they're right there.
05:44 Thank you, Lucid, for doing that.
05:46 It is quite spacious in here.
05:49 Again, they've miniaturized all the powertrain components,
05:51 so lots of room, tons of room in the rear seat,
05:54 but what I really want you to take away
05:56 is the fact that this is how you do
05:59 the interior of an electric luxury car.
06:02 And now comes performance.
06:06 The Lucid Air Grand Touring makes 800 horsepower,
06:10 and it's a four-door family car.
06:12 I've been waiting for this moment my entire life
06:15 because things like this are becoming normal.
06:18 Yay!
06:19 And with 800 horsepower, you're gonna assume it's quick,
06:21 and it is.
06:22 We time this car to 60 miles an hour in three seconds flat.
06:27 Now, you might be saying, "Whoa, whoa, Tesla Plaid,
06:30 "two seconds," to which I say, "That's true."
06:33 The Tesla with three motors makes 1,020 horsepower.
06:36 This, you know, it's got two motors, makes 800.
06:40 There is a version called the Dream Edition P.
06:42 P is for performance.
06:44 1,111 horsepower, and Lucid has a three-motor Air Coming,
06:49 which will be around 1,400 horsepower.
06:52 This is getting ridiculous.
06:54 I cannot wait.
06:55 How does it drive?
06:57 Magnificently.
06:59 I took it up one of the best roads in the world
07:01 and described it as a four-door Nissan GTR.
07:04 That's right, a Godzilla,
07:05 and you can throw your kids in the back comfortably.
07:09 Efficiency, I mean, again,
07:12 actually, I have to admit something.
07:13 I've lied to you once during this video.
07:15 I said that this car can go 516 miles on a single charge,
07:20 and that would be true if it were on 19-inch wheels.
07:22 However, it's on 21, so on 21s,
07:26 the range drops from 516 to only 469 miles.
07:31 However, know this, the next most efficient car
07:34 in the world is the Tesla Model S Long Range,
07:37 and it can go 405 miles.
07:39 So even with these big, sexy wheels
07:43 and performance tires on it,
07:44 this is still as efficient as cars get.
07:47 In terms of safety,
07:51 the Lucid Air has not been crash tested yet.
07:54 Tesla Model S is a very safe car,
07:56 but we just don't know about the Lucid.
07:59 We do know that the Air has almost every single
08:03 active safety feature there is,
08:05 including something called Dream Drive Pro.
08:08 It's semi-autonomous driving software
08:10 that actually includes a camera
08:12 to monitor the driver's eyes
08:13 to make sure you're not just staring at your cell phone
08:16 instead of the road.
08:18 The important thing to know is that
08:19 this car features over-the-air updates.
08:22 So just like your cell phone,
08:23 you can wake up one morning
08:24 and you have an entirely new operating system.
08:27 And the car is future-proofed against new technology.
08:30 There are 32 sensors, including 14 cameras.
08:34 So as self-driving tech evolves,
08:37 the Air is ready for it.
08:39 How much?
08:42 A lot, kinda.
08:44 There is a base model of this car.
08:46 It's called the Air Pure.
08:48 It's got one less motor,
08:49 it makes less power,
08:50 it has less range,
08:51 but you can get into it for $77,400,
08:56 which is still a lot of money,
08:57 but it's kind of priced like a regular luxury car.
09:00 This one next to me, the Air Grand Touring,
09:03 is $139,000.
09:06 That's expensive.
09:07 But then let's look at the competition.
09:09 You know, you've got that Tesla Plaid,
09:11 and that's 130,000 bucks.
09:13 And yes, it's quicker in a straight line,
09:15 but you know, you don't have the range,
09:17 you don't have the interior luxury.
09:20 The Mercedes EQS, you have the interior luxury.
09:23 It is less expensive,
09:24 but it's gonna kill you with options.
09:26 This one is fully optioned as it comes.
09:29 Then you look at the other Germans.
09:30 Well, that Audi, that's the same price,
09:33 and it has half the range,
09:34 and doesn't have nearly the performance.
09:35 So when you begin to look at the Air Grand Touring like that,
09:39 it's still really expensive.
09:41 However, there is value in this much power
09:44 and this much range.
09:45 If there's one thing I want you to know
09:49 about the 2022 Lucid Air,
09:52 it's that it's our 2022 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
09:57 Not since the Tesla Model S have we seen a vehicle
10:01 this groundbreaking, this disruptive,
10:04 this innovative, this futuristic.
10:07 And it has this cutting edge, avant-garde exterior.
10:10 The interior is as good as any luxury vehicle out there.
10:14 The performance is incredible.
10:16 The efficiency, it's literally the best there is.
10:19 And so, for all those reasons and more,
10:22 we decided to give the Lucid
10:25 the biggest award we've got.
10:27 For more information about the Air
10:30 and all of our other of the year winners,
10:32 please visit motortrend.com.