"Life as a startup carmaker is hard-just ask Lucid Motors. When we met the brand and its prototype Lucid Air sedan in 2017, the company planned to put the first cars in customers' hands within a couple of years. But you know what they say about plans. A lack of funding paused everything until late 2018, when Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund bought itself a stake. A billion dollars meant Lucid could build a factory-at the cost of alienating some former fans"
"There are now quite a few different versions of the Air to choose from. For just under a quarter of a million dollars, there's the outrageously powerful Air Sapphire, which offers acceleration so rapid it's unlikely your internal organs will ever truly get used to the experience. At the other end of the spectrum is the $70,900 Air Pure, a single-motor model that's currently the brand's entry point but which also stands as a darn good EV."
"That car mostly impressed me but still felt a little unfinished, especially at $138,000. This time, I looked at the Air Touring, which starts at $79,900, and the experience was altogether more polished. The Touring features a less-powerful all-wheel-drive powertrain than the Grand Touring, although to put "less-powerful" into context, with 620 hp (462 kW) on tap, there are almost as many horses available as in the legendary McLaren F1. (That remains a mental benchmark for many of us of a certain age)."
Lucid Motors experienced early funding shortfalls and pandemic-related supply disruptions that delayed production after the 2017 Lucid Air prototype. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund invested in late 2018, enabling factory construction despite alienating some early supporters. The Lucid Air entered production and later gained a Gravity SUV, with a midsize Earth SUV planned. Sales more than doubled in 2025. The model range spans the high-performance Air Sapphire and the entry-level $70,900 Air Pure, while the Air Touring ($79,900) balances power, refinement, and a more polished experience compared with earlier Grand Touring examples.
Read at Ars Technica
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