Finally, an EV with real performance - Lucid Sapphire

[Hmp10]

Did I miss something in the article?. Talked about the speed to 60, 100, and the 1/4 mile, the price, and who they partnered with.....but no mention of how many miles to the charge it gets. No mention of how big the battery pack is.

The Sapphire will have the 118-kWh pack with the Samsung batteries used in the Dream Edition instead of the 112-kWh pack with LG Chem batteries used in the Grand Touring.

Lucid hasn't released EPA ratings yet, but with the wider and stickier tires, slightly greater weight, and a bit of Cd penalty in order to generate more downforce, I'm guessing it will come in around 400 miles -- which in real-world driving on public roads in this car will probably mean around 300 miles.

They're probably still working to shave weight from the car, as Lucid recently notified people who have expressed an interest in the Sapphire that it will be available only with an aluminum roof instead of the glass canopy.

Unlike the Tesla Model S Plaid, which is really just a so-so handling road car with a third motor to deliver some oomph to impress the drag hounds and adolescent males, the Sapphire really seems to be bred as a true track car. Even the carbon brake discs do not use the carbon matrix material in most carbon brake systems but instead use a more expensive continuously-woven fiber that significantly increases the heat transfer capabilities of the brakes. And, unlike the tri-motor Tesla which still uses brake torque vectoring, the Sapphire has true electronic rear torque vectoring that allows one motor to be put in regen while its opposite still outputs torque.

Add in its lower stance and stiffer bushings and springs, and this is really more of a track car than a road tripper, with range taking a back seat to other goals.

When our first Dream Edition was wrecked, I thought long and hard about replacing it with a Sapphire instead of another Dream. But after talking to some people at Lucid I came to realize that one would pay more than one penalty in everyday practicality for a car of the Sapphire's beastly capabilities.

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[defcon888]

The Sapphire will have the 118-kWh pack with the Samsung batteries used in the Dream Edition instead of the 112-kWh pack with LG Chem batteries used in the Grand Touring.

Lucid hasn't released EPA ratings yet, but with the wider and stickier tires, slightly greater weight, and a bit of Cd penalty in order to generate more downforce, I'm guessing it will come in around 400 miles -- which in real-world driving on public roads in this car will probably mean around 300 miles.

They're probably still working to shave weight from the car, as Lucid recently notified people who have expressed an interest in the Sapphire that it will be available only with an aluminum roof instead of the glass canopy.

Unlike the Tesla Model S Plaid, which is really just a so-so handling road car with a third motor to deliver some oomph to impress the drag hounds and adolescent males, the Sapphire really seems to be bred as a true track car. Even the carbon brake discs do not use the carbon matrix material in most carbon brake systems but instead use a more expensive continuously-woven fiber that significantly increases the heat transfer capabilities of the brakes. And, unlike the tri-motor Tesla which still uses brake torque vectoring, the Sapphire has true electronic rear torque vectoring that allows one motor to be put in regen while its opposite still outputs torque.

Add in its lower stance and stiffer bushings and springs, and this is really more of a track car than a road tripper, with range taking a back seat to other goals.

When our first Dream Edition was wrecked, I thought long and hard about replacing it with a Sapphire instead of another Dream. But after talking to some people at Lucid I came to realize that one would pay more than one penalty in everyday practicality for a car of the Sapphire's beastly capabilities.

Thanks for the reply. I would love to have a car company give "their" range and then real world (e.g. Traffic in the bay area, going up a hill, 100+ degree temp, freezing, rain, headwind, tailwind) and give us the average.

The Lucid is ironically made (or at least the headquarters) is located down the street from Tesla in Fremont. I work in Fremont and at my work (about 2 miles away), we have 8 chargers and usually, there are 6 Teslas, my R1T, and a VW regularly. A co-worker has a Lightning and we have compare his versus my R1T.....he was impressed.

 

[Hmp10]

I would love to have a car company give "their" range and then real world . . .

Lucid uses the 5-cycle protocol for EPA testing instead of the 2-cycle protocol which yields more realistic highway range.

Lucid probably did this because Tesla also uses the 5-cycle protocol, and they knew that, no matter how often they said the German luxury brands were their target, almost everyone would instantly and constantly compare them to Tesla.

Thus, many Lucid owners are finding their real-world range somewhat less than the EPA rating. Even so, it still leaves Lucid with the longest highway range of any large EV on the market, and by a fair margin. We have done some highway range testing in identical conditions between our Model S Plaid and our Lucid Air, driving both on flat interstates in dry, temperate weather with the cruise control set at 82 mph (a real 80 mph). The Plaid gets about 73% of its rated range while the Air gets about 78% -- meaning a real-world range more than 100 miles greater in the Air than in the Tesla. (The Plaid is EPA-rated at 348 miles and the Air is EPA-rated at 451 miles.)

On interstate highway trips we usually charge up to 95% at charging stops. Driving between 80-85 mph, we typically drive about three hours before stopping again to charge. We have never arrived at a charging station with less that 28% of remaining battery charge, even when driving from Florida into the mountainous terrain around Asheville, NC.

 

[defcon888]

Lucid uses the 5-cycle protocol for EPA testing instead of the 2-cycle protocol which yields more realistic highway range.

Lucid probably did this because Tesla also uses the 5-cycle protocol, and they knew that, no matter how often they said the German luxury brands were their target, almost everyone would instantly and constantly compare them to Tesla.

Thus, many Lucid owners are finding their real-world range somewhat less than the EPA rating. Even so, it still leaves Lucid with the longest highway range of any large EV on the market, and by a fair margin. We have done some highway range testing in identical conditions between our Model S Plaid and our Lucid Air, driving both on flat interstates in dry, temperate weather with the cruise control set at 82 mph (a real 80 mph). The Plaid gets about 73% of its rated range while the Air gets about 78% -- meaning a real-world range more than 100 miles greater in the Air than in the Tesla. (The Plaid is EPA-rated at 348 miles and the Air is EPA-rated at 451 miles.)

On interstate highway trips we usually charge up to 95% at charging stops. Driving between 80-85 mph, we typically drive about three hours before stopping again to charge. We have never arrived at a charging station with less that 28% of remaining battery charge, even when driving from Florida into the mountainous terrain around Asheville, NC.

I was watching Kyle from OUT OF SPEC REVIEWS and he mentioned that the Lucid can pull up to 500kW when charging?. Is that true and if so, where do you find a charging station that pushes that much? TIA

 

[Hmp10]

I think Lucid says the car can charge at up to 300kW. However, the Lucid charging curve, which is fairly conservative, only allows charging at that level for short periods in optimum conditions, even if you can find a 350kW charger that actually works -- which is not always the case. I'm not aware of any commercial chargers that provide 500kW.

In most situations, you can charge a Lucid about as fast at a 150kW station as at a 350kW station.

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