In September 2019 shortly after announcing the existence of the tri-motor Plaid powertrain, Tesla took their prototype Model S to the famed Laguna Seca racetrack southern California to lay down some hot laps.
At the end of the day, Tesla set a new EV lap record clocking an official time of 1:36.555.
*~ Some personal news ~*
We lapped Laguna Seca @WeatherTechRcwy in 1:36.555 during advanced R&D testing of our Model S Plaid powertrain and chassis prototype
(That’s a second faster than the record for a four-door sedan) pic.twitter.com/OriccK4KCZ
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 12, 2019
That record time was broken just last month by Unplugged Performance and their tuned Performance Model 3, which was at the track as a warm-up for its entry into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It made it around the 2.238 miles (3.602 km) track in a time of 1:35.79, beating the previous record by nearly a full second.
Not to be outdone, Lucid took their prototype tri-motor Air to Laguna Seca yesterday, and according to unofficial timing by Ryan Levenson of The Kilowatts, was able to beat both Tesla’s completing a lap in 1:33.
Lucid just beat Tesla!
Looks like they are testing their mysterious Tri-Motor powertrain and will announce official times after @Tesla Unveils Model S Plaid
Nothing official yet but we just saw a 1:33 that looked like a walk in the park.#LucidAir #Teslahttps://t.co/55elVX7iiO pic.twitter.com/pECxtrXY1Z
— The Kilowatts 🚗⚡️ (@klwtts) September 17, 2020
Lucid Motors held their official unveiling of the Lucid Air last week. It will comes in three variants, with the most expensive dual-motor Dream Edition launching first in the spring of 2021 priced at $169,000 USD ($222,000 CAD).
Check out the full video below showing the Lucid Air tri-motor prototype completing a lap in about 1:33. The clips begins with the camera pointing at the start/finish line.
