DAVID MAKES GOLIATH
Autocar UK|May 10, 2023
Electric car start-up Lucid intends to hit the ground running with the Air, a sleek, sophisticated saloon with eye-popping performance and luxury aspirations. Mark Tisshaw drives it PHOTOGRAPHY MIKE CUTLER
Mark Tisshaw
DAVID MAKES GOLIATH

Stationary traffic isn't typically an environment to leave you gawping in wonder at your surroundings. But when that traffic is downtown Manhattan and you're driving a Lucid Air, you only need to look up to do a bit of sightseeing, because the Air's striking windscreen runs all the way back into the roof to give you a panoramic view of the city and the sky above from a unique perspective.

The Air itself comes with a unique perspective of its own. Its maker Lucid is determined to do things differently as it creates truly premium if not luxurious electric cars way above Tesla in their positioning and with an eye as much on Bentley as Mercedes-Benz or Audi.

The Air saloon is Lucid's first model. We have experienced it briefly before on a short drive around a year ago, when it first entered production. That was an early-build car, but now Lucid is fully up and running, with 7000 Airs having rolled out of its US factory in Arizona last year and a further 12,000 planned for this year - and one of those cars is ours for a sunny early April day in New York.

Lucid started life back in 2007 as a battery and electric drive unit supplier but set its sights on becoming a car maker in its own right in the middle of the last decade. By that point, former Jaguar and Lotus engineer Peter Rawlinson was heading the firm's technical operations, having joined from Tesla where he had led development of the Model S. Rawlinson has been CEO of Lucid Motors since 2019, and he knows a thing or two about developing an electric saloon, good and bad.

Bu hikaye Autocar UK dergisinin May 10, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Autocar UK dergisinin May 10, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

AUTOCAR UK DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
"I'm not surprised that EVs haven't taken off, because most of them suck"
Autocar UK

"I'm not surprised that EVs haven't taken off, because most of them suck"

Peter Rawlinson's uniquely dissenting views helped turn Lucid into a major force. As he steps back from the front line, he tells MARK TISSHAW how

time-read
7 dak  |
March 05, 2025
Matt Prior
Autocar UK

Matt Prior

I've bought an Audi A2. It’s a 2003 74bhp 1.4-litre diesel and, because it didn’t have an MOT, it cost me £500.

time-read
3 dak  |
March 05, 2025
HYUNDAI IONIQ 9
Autocar UK

HYUNDAI IONIQ 9

Here comes another upmarket seven-seat SUV with a calm and cosseting ambience and a long-range electric powertrain

time-read
5 dak  |
March 05, 2025
Damien Smith
Autocar UK

Damien Smith

The most tiresome catchphrase in motorsport? 'It's not as good as it used to be.' Inevitably true in some respects, it's also false in at least as many and always utterly pointless to dwell on. The world keeps spinning, and while it's both enjoyable and important to reflect on and indulge in the past (I admit that I'm as guilty as anyone), it's also vital to live for today and squeeze every drop from the here and now.

time-read
3 dak  |
March 05, 2025
Cheap skates
Autocar UK

Cheap skates

Electric cars, and new cars in general, are expensive. You know it, we know it, and even though they prefer to draw your attention to attractive-looking finance deals and the potential savings of electric driving, car makers know it.

time-read
9 dak  |
March 05, 2025
LEXUS RX
Autocar UK

LEXUS RX

Life will be a lot less comfortable now this luxury SUV has left us

time-read
3 dak  |
March 05, 2025
THE CLASS-TOPPING ASTON WITH OLD-SCHOOL CHARM
Autocar UK

THE CLASS-TOPPING ASTON WITH OLD-SCHOOL CHARM

Mk2 Vantage was our top pick when it arrived in 2018 – and now it's £60k

time-read
2 dak  |
March 05, 2025
A Q-car classic for the 21st century
Autocar UK

A Q-car classic for the 21st century

Registered in 1970, Jules Cranwell's 'woody' was one of the last Morris Minor Travellers to be built. It left the Adderley Park production line with a 1098cc A-series engine - fine in its day but, according to Jules, a liability in the 21st century. \"In standard trim, the Morris Minor is very slow so I've modified mine a little so that it can keep up with today's traffic,\" he says.

time-read
2 dak  |
March 05, 2025
NEW AUDI A6 AVANT KEEPS THE DIESEL FLAME BURNING
Autocar UK

NEW AUDI A6 AVANT KEEPS THE DIESEL FLAME BURNING

Sporty-looking next-gen estate arrives in diesel-hybrid and petrol guise

time-read
2 dak  |
March 05, 2025
CUPRA TAVASCAN
Autocar UK

CUPRA TAVASCAN

Can a big family EV capture this brand's young, sporty ethos? Let's see

time-read
4 dak  |
March 05, 2025