The long, low Lucid Air first showed itself to me – and thousands more – at the 2022 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
There, I saw the ultra-lux EV sedan quietly humming to itself on the close-cropped grass. Iconic race car driver David Hobbs (left in photo), stared at its stunningly crafted chassis, jewel-like electric motors framing low-slung batteries.
I would get a brief drive – calling it “very sleek, but with more character than some current EV sedans.”
Now, there’s a 195.9-inch-long Lucid Air Grand Touring in my driveway, done in Quantum Grey Metallic.
This may be the slickest EV I have ever driven. Lucid calls it the most aerodynamic luxury car in the world, its coefficient of drag a whispery .197 cD – that’s among the slipperiest around. The Lucid Air was born from the idea that other EV makers were not “doing this fast enough,” said Zak Edson, then Lucid’s Vice President of sales and service when he walked me around it in 2022.
More Coverage: Lucid Air Nails EV Sedan Category | What if: Lucid Air Convertible Concept
“Maybe some people think, ‘Oh, another one?’ Really, three percent of the U.S. market are electric vehicles, so we saw a need to have more of these products,” he said. “We wanted to present an offering that was the best possible.”
2026 Lucid Air Is Long, Low & Stylish
The nose is rounded and clean, only a slim slit for multi-element LED headlights and a light bar under a buff alloy bar. Twin vertical light bars with turn signals accent slim side vents. The clamshell bonnet is super smooth, with twin vents that flow air through the rounded front fender upper edges for aerodynamics.
The sedan is lower than waist-high at the nose. Flat-bladed satin silver and gloss black 10-spoke 21-inch wheels wear low-profile Pirelli P-ZERO rubber, with tight clearances to gently flat-edged fenders. The raked windshield starts just aft of the front axle line, then smoothly flows over a low roof, then back as part of an almost fully transparent roof with sweeping C-pillars and a small rear window that flows into a high rear deck with molded-in spoiler.
There’s gently tucked-in curves on the doors over black sill accents, while door handles tuck in when not in use. A slim rear LED light bar wraps around the short tail with a unique clamshell boot lid over a sculpted bumper with reflectors.
The result is low, with long wheelbase and short overhangs, a tightly wrought greenhouse that sweeps over a slick body design – far more elegant than any Tesla. I parked it at our local Caffeine & Octane, and it got lots of looks.
And when I showed it to a friend with a Tesla Model Y, he called it “smooth.” While some were not loving the muted paint job – I like that stealth look. The Lucid has the design advantage, if not as sporty as a Porsche Taycan, which I also love.
Lucid says luxury inside, evident as we slide into the black leather bucket seat with tan piping – a serene and quiet interior.
The sweeping dashtop is defined by tan double stitching, its lower section getting wood and alloy trim with grey alpaca wool underneath, like a tweed jacket.
The windshield continues overhead, sun-visors floating, connected to laminated glass that progressively tints as it heads to a center bar. The rear gets a tinted moonroof.
The flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel power tilts and telescopes. It gets ribbed turbine-like thumbwheels for cruise and volume, with smart cruise and distance setting touch controls below. A sweeping 34-inch arc of digital display places speedometer and information straight ahead.
The left side has touch buttons for climate control, lights, defrost and the like, while the right side offers navigation, weather, distance and other information.
The “bink-bink” sound for turn signals was not loved by those who rode with me. And the arcing A-pillars are thick – you know they are there when you look around them to sightline a turn. But the digital gauge display’s left and right sides became blind spot camera screens – while any cross-traffic issues were warned in the display.
A retractable second screen is below dual-zone climate and fan speed buttons at the head of the center console. It has touch controls for drive modes, seat heat/cool/massage, and 21-speaker sound system. There’s navigation, calling, streaming media, smart home control, and expanded vehicle control features via voice command, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
But the lack of real buttons means diving into menus for simple things like steering wheel and mirror adjust, a/c, even glove box door. And while the novel “Stretch” massage mode was wonderful, it’s noisy.
All doors open almost 90 degrees for easy access. But the sloping rear roofline meant I had to duck to get into the tan leather rear bench seat. Once there, good head and legroom with air vents and a touch panel to handle climate control and rear sun shade.
The unique power clamshell trunk opens wide to 22-cu.ft. of space with a low liftover and storage underneath, rear seat backs dropping to expand that space.
Some folks loved the fact that the front seats were black with tan piping, while the rear seats were tan with black piping – all over a tan carpet that did show some dirt.
2026 Lucid Air Offers Wide Range Of Trims
There are four models of the Air – the Pure is rear-wheel drive with 430 hp, and takes 4.5 seconds to hit 60 mph, with an estimated 420 miles of range; the Touring, with dual-motor all-wheel-drive, 620 hp, and 3.2 seconds to 60 mph with up to 431 miles of range. There’s our Grand Touring, also dual-motor all-wheel-drive with 819 hp, a 3-second 0–60 mph, and up to a 512-mile range. Top tier is the tri-motor (one in front, two in back) Sapphire, all-wheel-drive with 1,234 hp, 1.9-second 0–60 mph, and up to 427 miles of range.
Its skateboard chassis shows 10 lithium-ion battery cell packs mounted low. Each motor, which includes single-speed transmission and inverter, looks like jewelry and weighs just 163 lbs.
Our Grand Touring has an all-wheel-drive dual-motor drivetrain, up to 670-hp off the motor at the front axle, and the 671 hp one at the back – total 819 hp and 885 pound-feet of torque, powered off a 118-kWh lithium-ion battery pack with 900-volt-plus charging architecture.
Plugged into a fast-charger, the sedan is said to be able to recoup 300 miles of range in 21 minutes. It can add up to 200 miles of range in just 10.5 to 12 minutes at a DC fast charger. Recharging from 10% to 80% takes roughly 20 minutes, while a standard 240V Level 2 home charger requires 12 to 16 hours for a full charge. Our 5,000-mile-old car still had 200 miles of range after a full week of driving in 90-plus temperatures.
We had three drive modes – Smooth, Swift, and Sprint – which adjust powertrain response, torque vectoring, steering weight, and suspension damping to deliver the 819-hp as needed.
Smooth gives maximum efficiency, with a gentler throttle tip-in and initial throttle response, preserving battery range. Swift tightens the steering feel, with a more responsive, sporty feel that doesn’t get “overly frantic,” as Lucid says. And in Swift mode, all 819-hp and torque flow from the dual-motor setup, bringing it to 60 mph in 3 seconds, Lucid says. I like that all three modes allow for regenerative braking ranging from off, to one-pedal full.
In Smooth mode, steering is direct and weights up naturally, while there is a discrete electric motor whir on acceleration that works nicely to give the driver audible feedback – the car is that quiet so about all you hear en route to highway speed is that nice motor windup and some tire noise. Passing power comes when demanded, the pedal needing only a one-third push before you are at legal speed in a heartbeat – 60 mph came up in an amazing 3.6 seconds, all power and torque online, but with no wheelspin as we stayed straight and true.
2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Sprints to 60 MPH In 2.7 Seconds
Tapped into Sprint mode, and power and torque comes online faster to hit 60 mph in almost 3 seconds flat – incredible for 5,000 pounds-plus. Then came launch control – tap in Sprint mode, then the Launch Control button before you left-foot-brake as you right-foot-push that go pedal. Release the binders – and warp speed – 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, a hint of wheelspin as a bear with a checkered flag pops on the screen. Yes, we lost range playing like this, but it’s addictive – quick, yet in control, and just fine for commuting if you mind the pedal push.
Nothing special under the aluminum skin – aluminum-intensive virtual axis double wishbones in front, with more aluminum used in the rear’s multilink system, steel coil springs all-round with semi-active dampers and torque vectoring. It’s taut but forgiving over bumps, swallowing them with no head toss. Handling with front and rear motors dividing power where needed was very good – near neutral, stable and fairly flat, no drama no matter how we pushed. You can’t downshift into a turn, but backing off the One-Pedal throttle effectively does that smoothly as regen braking comes in – slow in and power out. In steady-state cornering, it was neutral with a hint of understeer, the Air floating along with nary any body roll. Yes, I felt the weight, but the Lucid was clearly in control.
The turning radius is good for such a wide, long sedan, steering feel loading up naturally, with good feedback in Sprint mode. Our Lucid Air has 15-inch ventilated front discs with 6-piston fixed calipers, and 14.8-inch ventilated rear discs with 4-piston calipers. We did not use them much since one-pedal regen nicely decelerated to a stop when invoked – I even saw some range return to the readout when One Pedal was used a lot. In tests from 60 mph, the pedal had a nice bite high up and great control, with no nose dive at full push.
2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Glitch Seemingly Solved with OTA Update
That said, the Lucid Air was not without some issues.
The frunk power opens and closes from a gauge panel near those for headlight and defrost. But it popped once for photos – then opened an inch on next button tap, then slammed shut – we didn’t use it again. And launch control had an issue. It worked fine the first time. But a second attempt – as per owner’s manual – saw warnings flash as the Lucid slowed – top speed reduced to 50 mph in Limp Home mode with no stability control and flashing “Drive with Caution” messages. We had an over-the-air update available, so I tapped it on and all was fine again.
As for range, we started with 403 miles of estimated range, and checked after we had driven 142 miles, mostly in Comfort mode. There was a claimed 214 miles of estimated range left, meaning displayed range was optimistic, claiming 47 more miles than we had traveled. That said, in a solid seven days of commuting and some side, we still had all that range left – I could average 2-week commutes in this without plugging it.
New for 2026 is the Lucid Air’s access to the Tesla Supercharger network using an NACS to CCS1 adapter. That adds 23,500-plus Superchargers nationwide, capable of pumping in around 200 miles of range in an hour.
Using a V3 Supercharger is quite slow, since the charge speed is capped at 50 kW because of a technical bottleneck. At the newest V4 Superchargers, the Air can charge from 10% to 80% in approximately 20 to 30 minutes, more in line with what you’ll see at 400 kW chargers such as Ionna and others.
And at Level II (240 volts/19.2 kW max), 100% charge could take up to 16 hours depending on the setup.
There’s no autonomous drive mode yet – but the Drive Assist does work to keep you in lane with hands on wheel and eyes on the road – it checks – and it slows down for curves, and handles traffic well.
The company sold over 9,000 Lucid Airs in 2025, and 5,400 as of June of this year, and is now building the new Gravity SUV in Casa Grande, Ariz. But just as I started driving this sedan, Lucid cut 18 percent of its U.S. workforce, and reduced production at that factory to save money.
A base Lucid Air Pure starts at $70,900; an Air Sapphire starts at $249,000. Our Air Grand Touring starts at $114,900, with $4,000 glass roof, $3,500 Stealth appearance, $5,500 for real leather and suede, and a few more options for a final of $138,700. For 2026, upgrades include a better AC compressor with improved cooling capacity and reduced ambient noise.
Bottom line: At highway speed, this car flows smoothly through the air, very quick yet well-mannered, very roomy and luxurious, yet with an eco-consciousness. Real range is very good; recharging is quick. This is one of the finest EVs I’ve tested. It’s just a pity we had some glitches and a driveline issue that hampered my drive until the over-the-air reboot.
2026 Lucid Air Grand Sport Specifications
Vehicle type – 4-door, 5-seat all-wheel-drive grand touring electric sedan
Estimated price – $114,900 ($138,700 as tested)
Motor type – dual electric motors
Battery – 118.00 kWh/ 14 battery cell packs mounted between wheels in chassis
Power – 819 hp
Length – 195.8 inches
Wheelbase – 116.5 inches
Width – 86.4 inches
Height – 55.5 inches
Front headroom – 39.5 inches
Front leg room – 45.4 inches
Rear headroom – 38.3 inches
Rear legroom/Long Range Battery – 35.8 inches
Cargo space – 10-cu.ft. for the frunk, and 22.1 cu.ft. for the trunk
Curb Weight: 5,204 lb.
MPGe – City 126/ Hwy 121/Comb 123