Imagine my horror the next day when Emad Dlala, Lucid's senior director of efficiency and energy technology, casually mentioned Swift mode was only about 69 percent (670 hp, same as Smooth) of the Air's total power output. Lickfold had made a mistake and quoted the Lucid Air Dream P model's Swift mode output, which is 784 hp. That said, I'm still blown away by how great the Lucid Air was at 75 percent power. (Swift does have more torque than Smooth.) Here's the whole power enchilada: In both Smooth and Swift, the Dream Edition R puts out 670 hp, and in Sprint that rises to 933 hp. For the Dream Edition P, the numbers are 804 hp in Smooth and Swift, and 1,111 hp in Sprint. Torque output in the three modes is 670, 738, and 885 lb-ft for the R and 738, 799, and 922 for the P. In Sprint mode with launch control, however, peak torque is 1,025 lb-ft for both R and P.
Long-ish Way Up
Since the Tesla Model S first appeared, we've conducted range tests in the following manner: The EPA says the range is 250 miles, so we're going to drive the car exactly 250 miles. That's 250 miles in extreme heat with no air conditioning, radio, or lights if need be. There was some relevance to this back when EVs were new and chargers were scarce, but these days? Why suffer? We know the bulk of the EPA's testing takes place at 27 mph. Ambient temperature, the way you accelerate, if you turn the Lucid Air's seriously rocking seat-massage function on, and even the weight of the driver impact the car's range. Plus, there are chargers all over the place in California.
Because the Lucid has a massive 113-kWh battery and the Dream R model has an official range of 520 miles on 19-inch tires, we decided to just drive from L.A. to San Francisco, about 350 miles, the same way the owner of a $170,000 automobile would do it: Straight shot, driving with the flow of traffic, and if the battery needs some juice, we'll find a charger. Just like the day before on Angeles Crest Highway, Rawlinson was in his own Air Dream R behind me, Lucid's PR and engineering teams followed us, and speed limits would be (mostly) obeyed. We rolled out of Lucid's Beverly Hills showroom at 7 a.m. with 503 miles of range showing. I got on the freeway in Smooth mode and set the cruise control to 67 mph. This was going to be a long one.
The 2022 Lucid Air is quiet, comfortable, and luxurious. It rides rather well in Smooth mode. Just a hint of waft, which is good in a luxury car. There's a bit of wind noise, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination. We were on a smooth road, and tire noise was minimal. It's worth noting the Air was fitted with different wheels and tires on different days. On Angeles Crest, the cars were on 21-inch wheels wrapped in grippier, range-sapping Lucid-spec (signified with LMI) Pirelli P Zeros measuring 245/35 up front and 265/35 at the rear. For the road trip, the car sat on 19s wearing Lucid-spec low rolling resistance all-season P Zeros, 245/45 front and rear.
Why the switch? Lucid offers customers a choice of wheel and tires as an option, and this way I got to experience both. Even with the big glass roof (the only way it comes for now, but a different roof option is inbound) and Central California sunshine in August, I wasn't boiling. I had the A/C temp initially set to 69 degrees; I thought it better to save a little juice, however, so I cranked it back to 71.
We took Interstate 5 north to 46 west (passing where James Dean met his demise) and popped out in Paso Robles for lunch. We'd covered 205 miles, and my Air Dream showed 286 miles of range remaining. Good news, because our destination (H.Q. Milton, a wonderful vintage watch shop in San Francisco's gritty though gentrifying Mission District) was 204 miles away. Once we parked, I opened the Electrify America app on my phone and saw there were two Level 3 chargers five blocks from our lunch stop. With Lucid's 924-volt architecture, a Level 3 charger would have practically refilled the battery by the time lunch was through. However, these long-range EV mileage tests are passé unless you're a brand-new electric car company trying to prove averyspecific point, and I had absolutely no doubt at this point that both Lucids would make it on a single charge. So we didn't plug in.