Range-Busting 2021 Lucid Air Electric Luxury Sedan Revealed

[Nairrk]

• The 2021 Lucid Air will start below $80,000, but the special Dream launch edition will be priced at $169,000.
• Lucid has claimed impressive EPA-estimated ranges of up to 517 miles, although the Dream is claimed to have a maximum of 503 miles—still beating out current Tesla offerings.
• The vehicles will start rolling out to buyers beginning in spring 2021, Lucid says.

Unveiling a production vehicle with an on-sale date is a huge deal for any automaker. For an automotive startup, it's the opportunity to show the world that it's not working on vaporware but an actual vehicle. But it also gives the general public the opportunity to embrace or reject the company's first offering right away, which could mean success or failure for the company as a whole. We've seen the general design of the Lucid Air for a few years, but now the final production version is here.

The first vehicle will be the launch-edition 2021 Lucid Air Dream. With a starting price of $169,000, it’s more than double the price of the least expensive Air that starts at under $80,000. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson told Car and Driver that the limited-edition Dream is the vehicle he wants. "It's kind of my choice. It's Peter's choices. It's Peter's car. It's a unique blend of range and performance."

It won’t have the 517 miles of EPA-estimated range that made headlines in August. Instead, Lucid says with the 21-inch aero wheels, it'll hit 465 miles, and with 19-inch wheels, it'll be able to stay on the road for 503 miles between charges. These numbers are all released prior to results of official EPA range tests. But even if they fall short, they would still make the Air Dream Edition the range king of production vehicles.

Lucid says that thanks to the Air's ultra-high 900-volt-plus electrical architecture, custom lithium-ion battery cells, and thermal management system, the vehicle's battery can add 300 miles of range in just 20 minutes when connected to a DC fast-charging station. Owners also get three years of free charging via the Electrify America network and are only charged idle fees after the vehicle has been topped off.

In addition to the 113.0-kWh battery pack that will reach as high as that 517-mile range, Lucid says its modular pack can be adjusted to remove four individual modules for lower-priced variations of the sedan. For those wanting speed and range, though, the pricey launch edition is the way to go.

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