Lucid Announces New Lucid Air ‘Grand Touring Performance' Model with 1,050 Horsepower

author: FutureCar Staff    

The dual-motor Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance delivers 1,050 horsepower.

Luxury-performance electric automaker Lucid Group announced today that the first deliveries of the Lucid Air Grand Touring models have begun. To coincide with launch, Lucid announced a brand new version of its Air sedan called Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance.

The Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance is the most powerful electric vehicle on sale today, but will only be available in North America. Customer deliveries in the U.S. are slated to begin in June 2022 and by August 2022 in Canada. 

The dual-motor Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance delivers 1,050 horsepower with an EPA-estimated driving range of 446 miles. The dual-motors on the front and rear axles can propel the Air Grand Touring Performance from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 2.6 seconds. 

For comparison, the Lucid Air Grand Touring is rated at 819 horsepower, with a 0 to 60 mph  acceleration time of 3 seconds and a range of 516 miles.

All of this performance won't come cheap however. The Air Grand Touring Performance will have an MSRP of $179,000 in the U.S. In Canada, it will be priced at $242,000 CAD (before taxes), with deliveries slated for August 2022. All versions of the Air sedan are eligible for the full federal EV tax credit of $7,500 in the U.S. 

The high price tag ensures it won't be a mass-market EV, but its does highlight some of the advanced technology being developed by Lucid that will eventually find its way to more affordable models, including an upcoming SUV.

"Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance answers the strong demand we continue to see for higher-performance versions of the Lucid Air," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Group. "The remarkable speed with which we are able to conceive and bring this model to market is possible only because of Lucid's high degree of vertical integration and in-house production of our proprietary EV powertrain and battery pack technology."

Both the Air Grand Touring and the Air Grand Touring Performance also come fully equipped to deliver a world-class experience for drivers and passengers, according to Lucid.

Standard equipment for both models include a panoramic roof, a 34-inch floating Glass Cockpit display with 5K resolution, Lucid's advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) DreamDrive Pro, a 21-speaker Surreal Sound immersive audio system with Dolby Atmos compatibility, heated and ventilated front seats with massage and soft-close doors.

Lucid's Dream Drive Pro is powered by the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform. The programmable and scalable platform ensures that Lucid's future electric vehicles, including the long-range SUV the company is working on, will receive continuous improvements via over the air software updates.

The advanced Hyperion processor supports autonomous driving, sensor fusion and high-performance AI compute requirements. NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion 9 features 14 cameras, nine radars, three lidars and 20 ultrasonics as part of its vehicle sensor suite.

 The Lucid Air also features an ultra-fast 900-volt charging system, enabling users to add up to 300 miles of range in just 21 minutes at a 350 kW DC fast charger.

Both Grand Touring versions come standard with 21-inch wheels and Pirelli tires specially developed for Lucid. The Grand Touring Performance features a new 21-inch Aero Sport wheel design. 

The Lucid Air was recently named the 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year. The vehicle is being produced at Lucid's new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona and customer deliveries are currently underway.

Lucid's CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson is an auto industry veteran. He previously served as the chief engineer at Lotus. Tesla's first vehicle, the Roadster, was based on the Lotus Elise chassis. It was built from 2008 through 2012 before the launch of the flagship Tesla Model S in 2012.

Rawlingson also worked at Tesla under Elon Musk, serving as Chief Engineer of the Tesla Model S before joining Lucid in 2013. He is largely responsible for many of the technical achievements of the Lucid Air sedan, including its high-performance electric powertrain.

FutureCar Staff