Two seconds from 0-62mph, sub 4.0 seconds for 0-100mph, under 9.0 seconds for the quarter mile, top speed over 200mph. To anyone who knows anything about cars, this is about as quick as road cars get in a straight line. A Bugatti, Ferrari or McLaren hypercar perhaps? No. This is a large, luxurious, four-door saloon.
It’s the Lucid Air Sapphire and the latest attempt by Lucid, a California-based, Saudi-funded electric start-up, to out-Tesla Tesla in the high-performance luxury car stakes. It is extraordinary acceleration – does anyone really want to go that fast in a sedan? – which on these figures would even leave behind a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport (0-100mph 4.1 seconds).
The Lucid Air we have seen before, most recently in the flesh here at Goodwood when it made its debut at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. Mostly though the products of a company often spoken about as the next Tesla are much more distant. They are sold so far only in the US and Canada where the Air is highly thought of for its svelte looks, spacious cabin, long range and fast charging. Motor Trend made it its 2022 Car of the Year.
The news that has got the whole of North America talking today, however, is the arrival of the Sapphire. Unveiled during Monterey Car Week, Lucid calls it the world’s first luxury electric super-sports sedan. And while it might be a single flagship model today, the intention is to expand the Sapphire name into a performance sub-brand a little like Tesla’s Plaid.
Sapphire’s raison d’etre is clearly going to be monumental power and speed, no easy task given the Air already boasts as much as 1,050PS (783kW). This first Sapphire version ups that to 1,200PS (895kW), now provided by three electric motors.
The Sapphire uses the same four-door body as the Air but is said to have refined aerodynamics, though you’d have to be an aficionado to notice. There are no giant wings or diffusers here. The wheels do give the game away: the “Aero Sapphire” wheels, 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear, are distinctive for their carbon-fibre disc wheel covers. Tyres are from Michelin and said to be specially developed for this car.
Underneath, more has changed including the fitment of carbon-ceramic disc brakes as standard. The addition of an extra motor – now one up front, two at the back – enables seamless torque vectoring to promote either turn-in or straight-line stability, says Lucid.
Stiffer springs and suspension bushes, revised dampers and recalibrated ABS, traction, stability control and electronic power steering are other changes which the company maintains make the Air Sapphire at home on a race track.
Some racecar this: inside it’s a leather, Alcantara and wood veneered luxury limo. The 18-way electric front seats will warm you up, cool you down or give you a massage, while it is said there is the same sprawling room in the back as offered by the standard Air model. Boot space and a comfortable ride are similarly said to be carried over unchanged.
Want one? Price in US dollars is a quarter of a mill, or around £207,000. Plus tax. Plus whatever it takes to ship one across the pond. So when will Lucid offer its cars over here? Lucid Airs are due on sale in Germany around now, with other left-drive markets to follow. While a right-hooker is said to be in the pipeline, there is no date for its arrival.
That’s understandable given production ramp-up has been slower than expected, with volumes in the hundreds rather than the hundreds of thousands that a new assembly plant in Arizona will eventually be capable of churning out. At Lucid’s helm is the former chief engineer of Tesla, and not many are betting that Lucid won’t soon be getting a wriggle on – just like its cars.
Keyword: The Lucid Air Sapphire is a 200mph luxury EV