CarBrandLogos archive · Lucid · 2021
Built by the engineer who ran the Model S programme, around motors small enough to hide.
Discover the storyPhoto: Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Lucid Air, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
Lucid began life as Atieva, a company supplying battery packs for the Formula E championship, which is an unglamorous but instructive way to learn about energy density and thermal management. It became a car manufacturer under Peter Rawlinson, who had been chief engineer on the Tesla Model S, and who took the view that the industry was solving the range problem the wrong way round.
2023 Lucid Air Touring, rear 7.23.23 · Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0
02
The conventional approach is to fit a bigger battery. Lucid's approach was efficiency: very compact motor and inverter units, developed in-house and small enough that the complete drive unit can be lifted by one person, a 900-volt electrical architecture to cut losses, and careful aerodynamic work. The consequence is that the Air achieves range figures at the top of the industry without carrying the largest battery in its class, and that the drivetrain takes up so little space that the cabin is far roomier than the exterior suggests, with a deep front boot as well.
Lucid Air IAA 2023 1X7A0513 · Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0
03
Derek Jenkins styled it as a low, wide four-door with a very short bonnet and a full-width light bar, and the interior leans on glass and open-pore wood rather than screens alone. A Sapphire version adds a third motor and performance figures that put it among the quickest saloons made. It won Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 2022.
Lucid Air Chassis - center and rear · DutchTreat · CC BY-SA 4.0
04
The difficulty has been manufacturing rather than engineering. Production at Casa Grande in Arizona ramped slowly, volumes have stayed small, and the company has depended heavily on investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Reviewers have been consistently more impressed by the car than the market has been by the company.
At a glance
Produced
2021–presentDesigner
Derek JenkinsBody
Four-door sedanTechnical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the Lucid Air's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →From the journal
Contemporaries from the 2020s
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