Lucid Air posts nuts time and speed

Lucid has responded to Tesla’s release of its astounding claims for the Tesla Model S Plaid by posting fresh video of its new Lucid Air battery-electric vehicle scorching through the quarter mile at a ridiculous time and speed.

The tri-motor test vehicle version of the Lucid Air posted a 9.245sec quarter mile at just over 157.3mph, or 252km/h.

The tri-motor is expected to be called GT in production and is due on sale in the USA around September-October 2021.

Just to put those figures in perspective, Dodge claims 9.65sec/140mph for the Dodge Demon and that is meant to be the world’s fastest production car.

It’s a murky world though and very much dependent on what you define as production in terms of vehicle prep and build numbers.

For instance, the video of Air ‘Lucid Speed Team’ member – and Lucid senior engineering manager for chassis and dynamics – David Lickfold being strapped in before going for the time at Sears Point racetrack shows the vehicle is gutted and fitted with a rollcage.

In theory, the Lucid Air’s time is still not quite as quick as the tri-motor 820kW Tesla Model S Plaid for which Elon Musk and his crew are claiming a quarter-mile sprint of less than nine seconds.

That car is due in owners’ hands late 2021 according to Musk’s estimate at last week’s Battery Day nerd-fest.

So a head-to-head shoot-out in identical conditions is still 12 months away. At least.

Given current release timings, the Lucid Air GT will be able to claim the title of world’s fastest production car at least until the Tesla Model S Plaid arrives.

But then, Lucid is known to drip-feed performance information, getting us all excited with its claimed 9.9sec quarter mile for the dual-motor Air a few weeks ago.

And who is to say the Air GT won’t have been developed even further by the time it launches. After all, in the social media post of the video, Lucid does note “stay tuned for more”.

Of course, the same goes for the Plaid as well.

Apart from the quarter mile time and speed, Lucid didn’t make any other performance claims for the GT. It still hasn’t revealed just how much power the tri-motor version of the Air makes, but it could be well beyond 1000kW.

Tesla’s been much more forthcoming about the Model S Plaid. Its armoury includes a sub-2.0sec 0-60mph (96km/h), a 520-mile (836km) range that tops the dual-motor Air by 3mph, and a 200mph (322km/h) top speed.

Whatever else you make of it, there’s no doubt this is great publicity for both companies. That’s especially so for Lucid, which starts production of the dual-motor Air early in 2021.