Lucid Motors plans to unveil their luxury Lucid Air electric vehicle during an online event on September 9, and hopes to begin production in early 2021.
Ahead of those important dates, the EV startup has just revealed the Lucid Air is now the most aerodynamically efficient luxury car.
During recent testing at Windshear’s facility in Concord, North Carolina, the Lucid Air EV recorded a drag coefficient of 0.21, beating the previous record holder the Porsche Taycan at 0.22.
The Tesla Model 3 has the lowest drag coefficient of all Tesla vehicles, coming in just behind the Taycan at 0.23.
Aerodynamic efficiency is important for any car, but particular for EVs. The lower the drag, the more efficient the car is at slicing through the air. For an EV, that means squeezing out the most range possible.
“Aerodynamic efficiency plays a key role in achieving world-beating range and performance, and is particularly valuable to an EV in that it provides “smart range” independent of battery pack size. So naturally we intensively focused upon aerodynamics throughout the Lucid Air’s development,” said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors.
Lucid was able to achieve the low number thanks to borrowing design cues from Formula One race cars.
With the low drag coefficient, the Lucid Air beta prototypes have reportedly achieved over 400 miles of range on public roads at highway speeds, according to the company.
High-speed testing has also been performed, and the Air was able to reach a GPS-confirmed top-speed of 235mph (378km/h).
We’ll learn more at the unveiling on September 9th, but the targeted base price will start at $60,000 USD ($78,300 CAD), reaching up to as much as $100,00 USD ($130,000 CAD) if all options are selected. That puts it right in line to complete with the Tesla Model S.
Source: Lucid
