2023 Lucid Air Pure, Touring Models Will Have 400+ Miles of Range

• Customer deliveries of the 2023 Lucid Air Touring begin today, with all-wheel-drive versions of the Lucid Air Pure following in early December.

• The official EPA range rating of the 480-hp Pure with all-wheel drive is 410 miles, while the 620-hp Touring is rated at 425 miles—each when fitted with the 19-inch aero wheels. For comparison, the more expensive Air Grand Touring Performance model offers 518 miles of range.

• Recent changes that came out of Touring and Pure final development have lowered the Air’s drag coefficient to just 0.197 with the 19-inch aero wheels, a production-car best.

With deliveries imminent, Lucid has released definitive performance and range information for their entry-level Lucid Air Pure and midlevel Lucid Air Touring. Both range figures are higher than the 406-mile estimates we’ve seen to date. The Touring comes standard with all-wheel drive, but it’s a $5500 option on the Pure. All initial builds of the Pure will be fitted with AWD, with rear-drive examples slated to emerge during the second quarter of 2023.

The official EPA range of the Touring, which starts at $109,050, is 425 miles with the 19-inch aero wheels and all-season tires, which are a no-cost option that replaces the Touring’s standard 20-inch setup. Lucid now confirms that the Touring packs 620 horsepower, and has clarified that it will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. It comes standard with a solid aluminum roof, with the glass canopy roof that’s been standard on all Airs we’ve seen to this point a $4500 option here.

The all-wheel-drive Pure is rated at 410 miles of range on its standard 19-inch aero wheels and all-season tires. Its dual-motor drive system generates 480 horsepower, and that’s enough to propel the sleek sedan from 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. The solid aluminum roof is the only offering on the Pure, which starts at $94,550 for the all-wheel-drive version that is being built now. The rear-drive Pure that starts at $89,050 will be EPA certified later as the delivery date approaches.

The Air and Touring have less range than the Grand Touring and Dream editions we’ve seen before because their underfloor battery packs are built from 18 modules instead of 22, resulting in a smaller 92.0-kWh pack. The four absent modules are from the area under the rear passengers’ feet, but the effect is far more expansive and normal-looking than the Porsche Taycan’s so-called rear “foot garage.” The result is a much lower and expansive rear floor that gives the Pure and Touring a far more natural and comfortable rear seating position, an effect that’s augmented by a reduced seat cushion rake angle that takes advantage of the lower foot position.

After sampling both, we can say the absent cell modules make the back seats of the Lucid Air Pure and Touring feel even more spacious than the higher-priced extreme long-range versions that have been sold to date. And for our money, 400-plus miles of range is still mighty impressive in any EV, especially one that has Lucid’s impressive 900-volt battery and power electronics. After all is said and done, the less expensive Pure and Touring can still take on as much as 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes—at a suitable 350 kW DC fast-charge station, of course.

Source: Motor - aranddriver.com