A relative newcomer to the luxury electric sedan scene, Lucid Motors has now made quite a spectacular entrance with its first EV product called the Lucid Air. In a newly published video online, the company showcased just how fast its brand new fully electric monster can be after it removed the vehicle's artificial top speed limiter. The tricked out Lucid Air prototype in the video reached a staggering top speed of 235 mph on its Test Track, beating its previous top speed by 18 mph.
A powerful contender
Lucid Motors first showed off the Lucid Air electric Luxury Sedan late last year and revealed that the top trim model will be packing at least 1,000 horsepower via multiple electric motors.
The vehicle was reportedly capable of a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.5 seconds. While that was all good on paper, the company has now shown that they weren't kidding when they said that the Air was extremely powerful. The top-of-the-line model was revealed to cost at least six figures, but the company is offering a base model unit that should be priced somewhere around $60,000.
Knocking on Tesla's doors
The Lucid Air prototype's new top speed completely obliterates the top speed of Tesla's top-of-the-line P90D Model S sedan in Ludicrous mode, which managed to reach 155 mph in 29 seconds. Although it has to be noted that the Model S has a software limiter restricting it to that particular speed for safety reasons.
Tesla has not yet tested a unit without a limiter and the true top speed of a full on Model S in Ludicrous mode is still unknown.
Just a test run
While the 235 mph top speed is indeed impressive, as it squarely placed the Air in the company of bonafide supercars, it may not necessarily be the same numbers that consumers will be seeing on the streets.
Similar to other performance vehicle manufacturers, Lucid will have to strictly enforce its 155 mph limiter to its production vehicles to prevent any legal action. Other manufacturers have all informally agreed to this specific number and no one has yet really tried to pull a fast one by removing the limiters on their products.
It also has to be noted that the prototype used in the test run was completely stripped down and had no interior to speak off. The electric vehicle was also equipped with a roll cage and several aerodynamic elements. All of the weight savings and the additional downforce helped the vehicle achieve its amazing top speed, but a production vehicle will likely be much heavier than the prototype with all its built-in amenities and cabin features.
