The 1,234 horsepower Lucid Air Sapphire is able to hit US streets. Lucid introduced in the present day that the primary manufacturing mannequin rolled off its meeting line in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The automaker launched an image of the mannequin within the Superior Manufacturing Plant-1 (AMP-1), the place it was present process ADAS system calibration. Lucid introduced the ultimate specs of the electrical efficiency sedan final month and promised manufacturing would start in September 2023, adopted by buyer deliveries within the coming weeks.
The Sapphire is essentially the most highly effective variant of the Air. Its twin rear motors, and a single motor mounted on the entrance axle, ship over 1,430 pound-feet of torque, and it shares the 118-kilowatt-hour battery with the Dream Version, which provides it an EPA-estimated 427 miles vary and three.61 miles/kWh effectivity.
The efficiency numbers are wild. Lucid claims the Air Sapphire can speed up from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in 1.89 seconds, slingshot to 100 mph in 3.84 seconds, and 1 / 4 mile in 8.95 seconds. It tops out at 205 mph. In a Hagerty drag race early this yr, the Air Sapphire beat its archnemesis, the Tesla Mannequin S Plaid, in a quarter-mile drag race.
The Air – whose costs vary from $82,000 (excluding taxes and charges) for the Pure variant to the $249,000 for the Sapphire – hasn’t actually been a sizzling vendor for the model, and the low gross sales might be partly attributed to the hefty costs.
Though year-over-year manufacturing numbers are up. Lucid produced 2,173 items in Q2 2023, up 204 p.c from Q2 2022, and delivered 1,404 items in the identical interval, up 107 p.c over the identical interval. Lucid is anticipated to launch Q3 manufacturing and supply figures quickly.
With the model diversifying its manufacturing bases, gross sales may enhance within the coming months. Lucid inaugurated its first abroad meeting plant, christened Superior Manufacturing Plant 2 (AMP-2) in Saudi Arabia, within the King Abdullah Financial Metropolis, the place it’s anticipated to assemble 5,000 items within the first part and develop capability to 155,000 items sooner or later.
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