Tesla Model S Plaid Killer Reveals Its Impressive Performance and Massive Price

It took a whole year for Lucid Motors to finally formalize the performance of its Air Sapphire. The opportunity to compare its technical sheet with that of its all-designated rival: the Tesla Model S Plaid.

It took almost a year to the day for Lucid to unveil the technical specifications of its Air Sapphire. For those for whom the month of August 2022 is only a distant memory, here is a quick flashback.

It was during Monterey Car Week 2022, almost at home, that the Californian Lucid Motors lifted the veil on the most powerful version of its large Air sedan, called Sapphire. Backed by some mouth-watering figures: more than 1200 horsepower, 0 to 96 km/h in less than 2 seconds and a top speed of more than 200 mph, or 322 km/h. Since then, the Sapphire had given no sign of life.

But in anticipation of Monterey Car Week 2023, which begins on August 11 and during which the hyper-powerful sedan will once again show off its sapphire blue on the podiums, Lucid has lifted the mystery on most of the car’s final figures. Its performance but also its autonomy.

330 km/h peak

Without further ado, let’s dive into the figures of the Lucid Air Sapphire which have nothing to envy to those of the no less incredible Tesla Model S Plaid. To better put the performance of the newcomer into perspective, here is a comparison table of the two models:

	Lucid Air Sapphire	Tesla Model S Poster
Power	1234 hp – 1251 horsepower	1020 hp – 1020 hp
0 to 60 mph (96 kph)	1.89 seconds	1.99 seconds
0 to 100 km/h	–	2.1 seconds
0 to 100 mph (160 kph)	3.84 seconds	–
1/4 mile (402 m) standing start	8.95 seconds	9.23 seconds
Max speed	205mph – 330kph	200mph

As can be seen above, the Lucid Air Sapphire seems to be on a mission to do everything a little better than its direct competitor, improving acceleration by a few hundredths of a second to reach 60 mph, or 96 km/h. , the equivalent of our 0 to 100 km/h. Moreover, we do not know exactly if it would remain below two seconds to reach this last level, while the TMS Plaid is announced in 2.1 seconds.

As for the maximum speed, it is above what Lucid announced a year ago, with 330 km/h. If the Plaid announces, it, the equivalent of 321 km / h on the American site of the brand, with us it is self-limited to 250 km / h (pending a Performance pack?).

It meets the 700 km of autonomy

We also learn more about the range and consumption of the Lucid Air Sapphire with a range of 427 miles in the EPA cycle, or 687 km. Here too it is ahead of the Tesla Model S Plaid which offers 405 miles in the EPA cycle, the equivalent of 651 km. And with us, in the WLTP cycle, it displays 634 km, where we do not know how much the Sapphire would offer.

	Lucid Air Sapphire	Tesla Model S Poster
Range EPA	427 miles (697 km)	396 miles (637 km)
WLTP autonomy	–	600km
Consumption	3.61 mph (5.80 km/Wh)	–

Two Plaid for the price of a Sapphire!

Lucid lowered the price of the Air range a few days ago in an attempt to cope with Tesla and its ultra-competitive prices. But the Sapphire version is not one of the versions whose price has been lowered. And if the technical sheet is indeed in favor of the Lucid compared to the Tesla, price level, it also surpasses it.

Displayed at 249,000 dollars, the equivalent of 225,650 euros at the current exchange rate, it is more than twice the price of a Model S Plaid. With us, the latter is displayed at 131,490 euros in the Tesla configurator.

Now we just have to wait for the Lucid Air Sapphire to arrive on our side of the Atlantic to see what kind of wood it gets, especially on the Nürburgring in particular, to see if it would be able to rob the Tesla Model S Plaid of its car title. fastest series electric on the circuit (in 7’25″ 231).

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