Table of Contents
2024 Lucid Air Touring: Review, Interior & Price – The first time I drove the awe-inspiring range-topping special-edition Lucid Air Dream Edition last year, I was completely enthralled by the car, yet skeptical about how lower-end versions might appear. Its charm was in its extravagant design and stunning performances – could it remain as impressive without the high-end spec and extravagant accouterments? It’s not a problem because the new mid-range Touring trim compresses all the air’s best features to a more manageable price.
The dual motors of the Air Touring produce 620 horsepower and 885 lb-ft of torque. just 199 horsepower less than Grand Touring but matching it with twist. (The Grand Touring Performance trim includes 1,050 horsepower and 921 pounds-ft.) This model is equipped with a launch control that can be easily turned on when you are you are in Sprint mode. You can activate it by pressing the feet of the pedals and then depressing the brake. A blue bear waving a flag signals that the car is prepared to go on the road, which is a reference to Lucid’s brand-new Sapphire Performance model.
Review
Lucid states that Lucid claims that the Touring can reach 60 miles per hour within 3.4 seconds. It’s faster than the Mercedes-AMG EQS and surpasses it by a tenth of a second. Porsche Taycan GTS by a 10th of an inch. Its Air GT and GT Performance are eight- and four-tenths of a second faster in each case, however, the Touring remains a tad faster. Speed acceleration on highways and at corner exits is where the powertrain of the Air is at its best. Floor it at 50mph, and it will accelerate to speeds of up to 50 mph. Air accelerates to triple-digit speeds in a flash, with not reducing power as speed increases. Lucid does not use sound effects or artificial noises as the electric motors create loud whirrs and roars that make a fantastic sound.
The Touring’s battery is smaller, generating 92.0 Kilowatt-hours, instead of 112.0 kWh, as with Grand Touring. Grand Touring and its 425-mile maximum range is just 91 miles short of the higher-end trim. It also offers slower charging capabilities, that can reach 250 Kilowatts instead of the 300kW but it’s enough to get more than 200 miles in just 15 minutes. Lucid claims that the Touring offers the highest energy efficiency of all Air cars, and a 0.20 drag coefficient, which is one of the lowest of all cars available from the US.
One of the most crucial aspects of Air Touring’s quality is the chassis ‘ hardware which is identical to what you will find in Grand Touring Performance. It doesn’t have air suspension and steering at the rear, anti-roll bars, or expensive technology. In fact, the Air does not require any of it. The ride quality is smooth even when driving on rough roads With a minimal amount of dive and body roll. Electronic power steering has been compared to that of the Porsche 911 GT3, and it’s extremely precise and has an ideal quantity of weight and remarkable levels of feedback.
The tourer I’m driving is fitted with standard 20-inch wheels that come with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires with a size of 245/40 in the front and 265/40 in the rear. (The Touring is also available with 19-inch wheels specifically designed for greater range, or with extra-cost 21-inch wheels fitted with Pirelli P Zero PZ4s.) In spite of the fact that you’re pushing hard in corners, the tires don’t squeak and only occasionally whistling sound under the load. I’m never disappointed by greater control. The Touring weighs about 250 pounds less than Grand Touring. Grand Touring, and it has a more responsive feel.
The Touring’s exterior design is the only thing that Touring’s exterior style is different from different Air models. This is great for the air’s stunning style was equally striking a couple of years after its introduction. Touring is the very first model of the Air that comes with a roof made of metal, which provides the most headroom, and lower temperatures inside the cabin. However, you are able to choose to have the panoramic glass roof tinted and get it for just $4,000.
Personally, I am a fan of the roof pano, particularly when it has a windshield flowing through the roof however, since it comes with the sunshade missing, I can understand the reason why some people dislike the design. The roof is painted in body colors, and I believe that the Air requires the contrast Platinum coating on the roof, to truly maximize its design. There’s a brand-new Stealth appearance pack that darkens the trim on the exterior for $6000, though it’s not really me, it looks like a dark and sinister look.
In addition to using slightly cheaper materials on certain surfaces, the Air Touring’s cabin appears like the trims on top too. Inside, the interior blends kinds of leather with aluminum, alpaca wool, and genuine wood trim, and the build quality is better than previous Air models. Lucid cleverly snatched the undesirable batteries in the rear footwells and flooring, creating the rear seats to be more comfortable and relaxing feeling. The cushion on the bench isn’t quite as bent, as the other ones, and also because it’s also lower and roomier, meaning the knees of the occupants don’t rest awkwardly up in the air.
Though I didn’t encounter any input or other software issues during my time on the Air the system for infotainment isn’t without its flaws. While the 34-inch curvature is stunning as the top screen is but the touchscreen on the right is too tiny as well as the proportional aspect seems odd, particularly for looking at the map of navigation. The larger lower screen is used to control temperatures, vehicle settings as well as other functions that are frequently utilized although I would prefer there was more use for it.
It’s possible to swipe downwards on the bottom of the screen to see full-screen views of the map or even a music application, however, you cannot combine and match them – for example, if navigation is located on the top and you want to scroll Spotify to the bottom screen. It’s not possible to alter your controls for the lower screen or to look up a favorites menu. And a plethora of options are hidden within the software. I’d like to see the gauges cluster could also be customized as well. Lucid isn’t yet able to offer Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
The Air’s driver assist technology isn’t up to par with the other models. Each Touring model comes with features such as adaptive cruise control auto emergency brake as well as blind-spot monitors, warning of lane departure as well as parking assist, and cross-traffic warning, and all work well. The $10,000 DreamDrive Pro package adds highway control and lane-centering, which can be extremely sensitive and will not cancel even small corrections that I can do, and hands-free operation isn’t yet available.
The Pro pack comes with a surround-view camera system as well as an additional camera on each side mirror which shows the blind spot view whenever you activate it, but it’s not the best camera. Similar to the issues with infotainment they could be upgraded via updates over the air or upgrades. In addition, the Pro pack includes 32 sensors as well as other equipment to make your car more capable of future autonomous technology.
Engine and Performance
Lucid’s Air Dream is no more the test group’s memories of its awe-inspiring performance and range are still alive. Its dual-motor motor powertrain made an impressive 1111 horsepower when it was in the performance version, whereas its range-oriented version dialed it down to 933 horsepower, making it an official 520-mile bladder killer.
Impressive? Absolutely. However, does anyone really need this much, particularly when you take into account the expense? In 2024, the highest-end 1050 horsepower Grand Touring Performance commands over $80,000 while the 516-mile specialist-in-range Grand Touring hovers just south of $140k. This is the most important and unwanted side effect of the huge battery–112 kWh in its Grand Touring, 118 kWh for the Performance model–required to access the power and versatility The battery is located in the rear footwells and creates an awkward knee-up position, which is further exacerbated by a tiny space for the toes beneath the seats in front. The legroom is certainly ample which means it’s plenty of room behind, but the seat position isn’t typical.
The Touring model, which at ten speeds appears identical to more expensive models, differs by a key factor that echoes across the specification sheet: its underfloor battery is comprised of 18 rather than 22. This reduces its capacity to 92.0 kWh. However, losing four modules provides the rear seat with space for the footwell and offers an incredibly luxurious ride for the passengers. Actually, Lucid was able to reduce the lowest cushioning angle slightly since the seat in the rear is no longer required to hold legs up that protrude upwards.
A smaller battery’s capacity can reduce capacity and power. Although it’s true that the Dream, as well as the GT offer both of them in abundance but the Touring’s mileage, is still 425 miles, which is EPA-rated at 19 inches with all-season tires. It can also go 384 miles when we used our test car’s 20-inch free summer tires. The 2024 Lucid Air Touring has 800 lbs-feet of torque. In town, you’ll never be able to miss any horses as this is an exciting engine. Moving from 30 to 50 miles per hour, for instance, is less than 1.8 seconds. If you do not even get it from the start, which we have done in our track testing the difference between 1111 horsepower and 620 horsepower is only 0.4 seconds between 60 and 62 mph, and the Touring scores a mighty 3.0 seconds. Although the Touring isn’t able to compare to the Dream’s 10.1-second quarter-mile of 142mph buyers should not feel undervalued. 11.0 seconds, averaging a speed of 126 mph.
The battery’s smaller size helps to lose 270 pounds. the 5012-pound Touring does indeed feel more light when it comes to the corners. The lateral grip of the Touring is slightly better than the Dreams at 0.93 g. Similarly, the panic stops at 70 mph are four feet higher at the 167-foot mark. The 20-inch Michelin Pilot Sports EV summer tires are a bit less abrasive than the Dream’s 21-inch Pirellis However, in other ways both cars’ characteristics match the other. In the open and in the city, the Touring will make miles disappear since it’s an exceptionally calm and stable cruiser. Its ride is mellow and smooth, without any little float or a hang-up, and the more pronounced sides of the 20-inch performance rubber provide the extra dimension of comfort.
The”dead-ahead” feeling you feel when you steer is very noticeable and gives enough trust that we were more relaxed using the steer-itself adaptive cruise option on the interstate than it being the Highway Assist lane-centering function that’s included in the $20,000 DreamDrive Pro option. The driver monitoring system is available but Lucid hasn’t yet incorporated it in order to enable super cruise-style hands-free operation, therefore you’ll get the standard warning that you need to remain in the steering wheel when they’ve been not present for more than fifteen minutes.
Although the Touring’s range rating is impressive, however, we discovered the actual range to be significantly more dependent on speed than anticipated. Although the range is stated to be 384 miles, our car was able to cover just 280 miles on the 75-mph test on the highway. In the following tests, the car did what it was supposed to do on an unplanned drive which included a lot of highway traffic, but an average speed was closer to 64 mph. In all, our Touring earned 107 MPGe on average, that’s a bit less than its impressive 120 MPG EPA combined score, but it is nevertheless a decent performance when in comparison to the other luxurious EVs.
The 2024 Lucid Air Touring test vehicle’s best-known innovative feature was charging and not the distance. As with the Tesla Supercharger, the plug-and-charge feature has been fully implemented in this. All that’s required is plugging in was needed in order to start charging at Electrify America refill stops, charging, and initiation occurring in the background with an already-configured account established through the Lucid owner portal. If you’ve been attempting to get speedy charges going on at other sites are aware of this life-changing advancement.
In our test of the range at 75 mph and we were able to take plenty of time to think about some of the quirks in Lucid Air’s instruments and controls, which look quite appealing both in appearance and design. It’s not equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto It is believed that this will be addressed through the release of a “coming soon” over-the-air update however, until then the phone will be suction-cupped onto the windshield. The turn signal stalk is thin, which makes it simple to press the end-mounted wiper button while trying to activate the turn signal. The expansive instrument panel as well as the central tablet are stunning and beautiful, however, a good portion of screen space is lost. An enormous Air logo occupies a prominent area just to the right of the speedometer. There’s also an incredibly basic trip odometer to the left.
Price
Lucid has begun to deliver for the Air Touring, which starts at $109,050, which includes a $1,650 delivery charge. That’s about 30% less than Air Grand Touring, and it’s not a huge reduction in value. It’s also around similar to the Taycan 4S and EQS450 4Matic, and not to mention a lot cheaper than the high-performance versions of the competitors as well as being equipped with features that were restricted to optional packages offered that are offered by the Germans. Although it has some teething problems, however, the Lucid Air Touring is a truly luxurious luxury car that’s enjoyable to enjoy driving.