That’s also 38 percent more efficient than the Benz, at 95 m.p.g.e. Where that Veyron quaffed unleaded at 10 miles to the gallon, the Lucid returns the energy-use equivalent of up to 131 m.p.g. That’s a few ticks behind a tri-motor $131,000 Model S Plaid - with Lucid’s own, more powerful tri-motor version in the works - but as quick as a seven-figure, 1,000-horsepower Bugatti Veyron. A quarter-mile takes 9.9 seconds, at which point the Lucid is traveling 144 miles an hour. Sixty miles an hour arrives in 2.5 seconds, testing shows. But the Lucid is never short on thrills, and is more spacious inside. And it nearly triples the power density, or horsepower per pound, of Tesla’s best.Ī Porsche Taycan, driven on the same roads, reiterated its status as the market’s purest-handling E.V. The entire unit fits in an airline carry-on bag. Lucid’s powder keg - including an electric motor, single-speed transmission and inverter - spools up to 650 horsepower and weighs 163 pounds. With an eight-speed transmission, the powertrain weighs over 800 pounds. The V-8 engine in a new Corvette makes 495 horsepower. “And it’s important for a chief engineer to be truly empowered to call the shots.” “We started Model S with six engineers, which is unheard-of,” he said. But he noted how many skeptics assumed Tesla would fail spectacularly in 2009, when he joined the company. Rawlinson acknowledges the hurdles ahead for any company hoping to replicate Tesla’s (so far) unparalleled rise. Lucid intends to follow up with a Gravity sport utility vehicle next year, the first in a planned lineup-and-factory expansion to achieve a 500,000-vehicle annual capacity by 2030. Mercedes sold 443 EQS cars in the States in the fourth quarter, though that initial trickle might ramp up the company won’t reveal how many will reach American showrooms this year.
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Lucid is also primed to sell many more Airs in America this year - as many as 20,000 from a new Arizona factory - than the EQS. InsideEVs has yet to test the Mercedes, though my mileage suggested the Benz can meet or exceed its 350-mile official rating. clip, the compact Tesla Model 3 was a distant second at 310 miles, followed by Tesla’s Model S at 300 miles and the Porsche Taycan at 297. “We did it by taking a ground-up review of what was possible from an E.V.”Īmong models tested at the same 70-m.p.h. Rawlinson said, referring to a real-world, highway-speed range test conducted by. “We just got 500 miles of range at 70 m.p.h. (The Benz’s fastest charging rate is 200 kilowatts.) has charged faster, adding up to 300 miles in 20 minutes on a 350-kilowatt charger. tech where it counts: No electric has gone farther on a charge. Yet this blank-slate company has advanced E.V. Put up against Mercedes’s dynastic heritage and scale, Lucid is an obscure underdog. The Lucid’s most efficient version can go about 50 percent farther, enough for about two and a half more hours of highway driving. Despite its aero profile, the EQS has a range maxing out at 350 miles, per its government rating. But Lucid’s Air is virtually as slippery, and manages to look great. Mercedes says the EQS is the world’s most aerodynamic production car.
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The Lucid is 11 inches shorter, yet easily fits lanky rear-seat riders, and brings the industry’s largest frunk. Mercedes posits the EQS as an alternative to its S-Class flagship yet taller adults find their noggins squashed in a cramped back seat, and there’s no storage “frunk” as in many engine-free E.V.s. tropes: the ovum-shaped transportation pod, blown up to Benzian proportions. The EQS’s inelegant styling adheres to that most played-out of E.V. Next-Generation Batteries: Makers of batteries for electric vehicles that could charge in a few minutes are bringing the technology a big step closer to auto showrooms.įirst impressions don’t help.Can Rivian Deliver?: Amazon ordered 100,000 battery-powered trucks to cut its carbon dioxide emissions, but the fledgling electric vehicle maker will take years to fulfill the order.The high cost of electric cars and gasoline have given them an opening. sales of plug-in hybrids have been surging. Plug-In Hybrids: After falling behind all-electric cars, U.S.But even with the aid, an uncomfortable truth remains: Battery-powered vehicles are much too expensive for most Americans.
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Climate Bill: The legislation would offer tax incentives to steer consumers to electric cars.