The Lucid Air Sapphire can hit 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, 100 mph in 3.8 seconds, and can run a quarter mile in about nine seconds, depending on surrounding conditions and how much breakfast you have. I can personally attest that I was capable of a 9.09-second quarter mile at a trap speed of 153 mph, which is an experience so fast and thunderous that I shouted the words out loud in the car that I could not in good conscience publish it online.
And did you know? That warp-speed launch wasn't even the best. The Lucid Air Sapphire is more than just a one-trick pony with straight-line antics. This is without a doubt the best-handling electric car on sale today – a car so satisfying it will make anyone believe in electric power. This is such a stunning car, I can't imagine ever forgetting it. 10 out of 10,
No kidding: 1,234hp and 1,430 lb-ft of torque. Power comes from a 118kWh battery and three electric motors – one at the front and two at the rear. By mounting a pair of e-drive units on the rear axle, the Air Sapphire can produce exceptional lateral torque vectoring, which is a major contributor to the sedan's handling prowess. Yes, getting a 5,336-pound luxury car to hit 60 mph in less than two seconds is one thing. Making it dance around a race track like a car half its size is something else.
The chassis gets major improvements, with stiffer anti-roll bars, Bilstein adaptive dampers, new electric power steering calibration, and springs that are 17 percent stiffer at the front and 25 percent stiffer at the rear. Increased negative camber makes the Air quieter through fast corners, and new bushings increase lateral stiffness by 25 percent on the front axle and 28 percent on the rear.
Most importantly, the Sapphire tires are a treat. Michelin developed bespoke Pilot Sport 4S rubber 265/35R20 (and staggered) at the front and 295/30R21 at the rear specifically for this car. The tire uses a unique hybrid construction where the center tread is similar to the standard Pilot Sport 4S, but the shoulder specifications are the same as the tougher Pilot Sport Cup 2. It's a best-of-both-worlds approach that pays dividends both on the track and on the road.
Of course, that's not all. The carbon-ceramic brakes save 48 pounds of unsprung mass compared to the Air's standard iron stops, and they're strong enough to reduce speed decisively while keeping the Lucid's smooth regenerative braking characteristics intact.
It's true – and also on a notoriously tricky racing circuit. Sonoma Raceway is a bear of sorts, full of rapid elevation changes and turns that are very easy to go wrong. This is where you find out just how amazing the Sapphire is, and why that 1,234hp power spec isn't the real headline.
When you use Track mode, you're presented with three sub-settings: Dragstrip, Hot Lap, and Endurance. This is self-explanatory; use the Dragstrip to pre-condition the battery and make all 1,234hp available for launch, choose Hot Lap if you want to do impressive time trials, and switch to Endurance if you want repeatable performance. With the latter, to not completely drain the battery or motor (or brakes), the Sapphire is limited to 737hp, which, frankly, is still huge.
Leave the stability control on full setting and it will get a little heavy as you throw the Sapphire into a corner, cutting power to the axle where slip is detected. You can feel the straps around the car tightening when you start to get carried away, so if you want to lap the Sapphire with regularity, get used to Track mode in the stability control, where the nannies will give you more freedom. , pulling you back in just before things got out of hand.
Can you disable traction control completely? Not 100 percent. But no matter, it's still free enough that you can drift around on four wheels and do smokey burnouts to your heart's content. Just take care of those tires. They won't last long.
Stands great. The steering is sharp and perfectly weighted, and you can feel exactly what's happening on the road surface. The torque vectoring system works quickly to transfer power to the rear axle in a completely natural way – as in, you'll never feel as if the electronics are artificially enhancing the fun.
The Sapphire is light and easy to throw – well, as easy as it gets for a car this heavy – and every action it makes is completely at the driver's disposal. You can steer it with the throttle through corners and some countersteer through corners won't make the Air go haywire. This was engineered by people who knew what they were doing. Legit, this is a real ripper.
According to US EPA testing, the Air Sapphire can travel 427 miles on a full charge, which is better than almost any other non-Lucid electric vehicle on sale today. It's also on the standard Pilot Sport 4S 20-inch front and 21-inch rear tires. Although there is one cheat code: driver-deployable, wheel-mounted aero covers. You'll need it for maximum range.
The Air's high-voltage architecture means it can also recharge quickly. Find a compatible (and functional) Level 3 DC fast charger and you may be looking at charging speeds of up to 300kW. It was great
It's pretty good, although not as comfortable as other Air models. These chassis changes make the ride quality stiffer, but not so much that you'll hate driving it every day. There's a unique Sapphire drive mode that will unleash the car's full potential, but stick to the standard Smooth or Swift settings and you'll find this Air as comfortable and relaxed as any other Air.
The interior is equally beautiful, with Alcantara trim, very sturdy seats, and a nice overall design. Of course, the multimedia system is still a chore and it would always have been stupid to place the rearview mirror and steering wheel adjustments on the central touch tablet. But none of these problems are unique to Sapphire.
At $250,500 including $1,500 for destination, the Sapphire is more than triple the price of the base Air Pure. Is it triple the car? Not when you're running errands or stuck in traffic. But open Sapphire and it's a scary beast – its boundaries are unbending in the best way.
No other sedan can handle hot laps like the Air Sapphire, and no other EV can cover 427 miles on a single charge and accelerate from a standstill to 320 mph in 17 seconds (not at the same time, of course). Yes, Air Sapphire has a super expensive entrance ticket price. But nothing this fantastic can be cheap.
