Lucid Motors delivered 10,241 vehicles in 2024. It was a massive increase from the previous year and the best year in the high-performance luxury electric sedan’s five-year tenure. But the sales boost couldn’t hide the niche manufacturer’s larger concerns.
The Bay Area-headquartered carmaker now making its vehicles in Arizona originally touted plans for selling 90,000 sedans a year. It also hoped its vehicles would be well-known.
Sales goals have proven unreasonable. And it’s at least partially the result of Lucid’s seeming desire not to shout about its products from rooftops or at least initiate a slick marketing campaign.
The 2025 Lucid Air Grand Touring offers plenty for the carmaker to praise. Its unique exterior styling attracts attention, not from being gawdy or flashy but from bold handsomeness.
Flush door handles are more commonplace throughout the luxury segment. What’s unique to Lucid is the front light configuration. The Air features a full-width chrome strip with the Lucid lettering embossed on the front. Below are thin full-width LED daytime running lights and slim micro lens array LED headlights.
Competitors include the Audi E-Tron, BMW i7 M70, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S. None have the same classy looks.
The swoopy-looking Lucid is also the performance and economy leader. Despite its size (195.9 inches in length) and weight (5,204 pounds), the sedan advances from 0-to-60 miles per hour in about 3.0 seconds. The importance of vehicle performance varies among consumers. But even among those who favor vehicle qualities other than speed-means-everything, the Lucid possesses a pleasing level of confidence.
It may take one or two experiences to completely understand, but the sedan’s prowess allows it to avoid potentially problematic road circumstances with little effort. Lane change issues, road debris or an unskilled driver are all quickly visible in the rear-view mirror with a tap on the accelerator.
Further specs also impress. Lucid promotes the sedan with its smallest tires (19 inches) with a 512-mile range. It’s about 90 miles more than any competitor. The Lucid Air also has 819 horsepower and a top speed of 168 miles per hour. It also has a huge frunk, a space engineering wonder.
Several EV-specialty publications’ tests have achieved the touted range while never exceeding 70 miles per hour. A recent week with the vehicle resulted in a 439-mile range experience. Most of the driving occurred during a primarily freeway trip with four adult occupants. The flow-of-traffic speed sometimes exceeded the 70-mph standard maximum. Lucid also promotes the vehicle with city and freeway MPGe equivalents of 114 and 109.
The sedan’s acceleration, range, a handful of luxury features and its handsome exterior give it a lofty status and a hefty price. The Lucid Air Grand Touring has a starting MSRP of $110,900. The review vehicle included five option packages. The top-line leather seating and Alcantra headliner add $6,500. The 20-way power front seats with massage and ventilation cost $3,750. Additional options and taxes push the total price to $127,650.
For its six-figure status, Lucid could have done better in two areas. While its streamlined but wide appearance is unique, the designers’ skills didn’t include proper ingress and egress consideration. The vehicle’s front and rear seat entry areas are small. The awkward seating positions complicate the process. Additionally, the sedan’s
A-pillars are thick and obstruct corner side viewing.
After a long tenure of prototypes and promises, Lucid recently debuted the electric Gravity, its first sport utility vehicle. The manufacturer has also begun an advertising campaign with actor Timothée Chalamet.
How Lucid’s maiden voyage into the SUV segment will succeed is unknown. What is known is SUVs far outsell sedans and celebrities’ product endorsements work. Lucid’s vehicles are innovative and worthy of further attention.
James Raia, a syndicated automotive columnist in Sacramento, also contributes business, lifestyle and sports content to several print and online publications. E-mail: [email protected].
