On a brighter note:
The car is everything I hoped it would be (and even a little more) in terms of design, structural robustness, build quality, fit and finish, power delivery, and handling. We've now spent several hours in it, and there is nary a squeak or rattle, and you can find any seating position you can imagine and throw in a good massage to boot. I've never thought twice about motorized thigh supports, and now I never want to buy a car again without them.
As for power delivery, there is real differentiation between the three drive modes, and each brings something useful to whatever driving you're in the mood for. The throttle response is notably different between Smooth and Swift, and the power difference between Swift and Sprint will have you hanging onto your toupee. Yes, the motor whine in the Air is a bit more prominent than in a Tesla Model S, but you really notice it only under brisk acceleration -- and that's exactly when I like to hear a car delivering its magic.
As for handling, I think a reviewer nailed it when he said that, if Lotus built a 5,200-pound sedan, this is the suspension set up it would have. The combination of precision and compliance is approached only by the best BMW's of recent years.
The sound stage of the audio system, whether with Atmos-encoded material or not, is clear, detailed, and perfectly balanced. It's just as good as it's advertised to be. (One owner said he found it a bit bass-deficient. I was surprised to find that this system delivers more bass -- and more accurately -- when set to its middle default position than the new Tesla Model S with its bass cranked up 6db+ (which I hate, anyway, but have to live with to keep peace on the homefront . . . . .)
And the back seat which, since early days, has been my biggest worry about the Air falling short of billing -- well, it's really pretty good, although people do comment that their knees are jacked up a bit. Last night we had a six-footer in the front seat and a six-footer in the seat behind. The person in the rear said the front seat could be moved back, as he had more room than he needed. By the time the seat reached his feet, the front passenger had lost contact with the front firewall and actually wanted to move the seat more forward.
So . . . the initial take on the Air compared to our Model S Plaid (leaving software issues aside for the moment):
The Air handily beats the Plaid on almost every aspect of the interior, from design aesthetic to materials to fit and finish to passenger space and comfort front and rear. The Tesla has a better storage layout in the front console, and I've come to enjoy the large, horizontal screen more than I thought I would. The biggest miss to me in the Air -- the Google Earth satellite map, which I got addicted to with my first Tesla.
In terms of exterior styling, the Model S has held up well over the past ten years and is still a sharp-looking car. But its body shell imposes limits on what can be done with interior space that just can't be overcome. If there was ever any doubt, Lucid -- with virtually identical exterior dimensions -- proved it. And they proved it with a very fetching visual design.
In terms of driving, there is absolutely no contest. The Plaid steering yoke absolutely sucks, and there is almost nothing Lucid could have put on its steering column that would have been worse. Fortunately, they did better than that and put in a darned good steering wheel and some very serviceable stalks (although the turn signal stalk could stand being a bit closer to the wheel). Even if the Plaid could handle better than the Lucid -- and it can't -- having to use the yoke to do it would wipe out any advantage.
In terms of power delivery and acceleration, this one's a tie. It would be hard to beat the Plaid for brutal acceleration, but there is a smoothness to the way the Lucid leaps forward when ridden hard that somehow makes it a more enticing experience to me. BUT . . . a car needs to be kept under control during hard acceleration, and the Lucid -- while rearward weight transfer can be felt in the suspension -- stays better planted with its front end than the Tesla. So, for pure thrills, maybe the Tesla. For thrills while staying alive to recount them, the Lucid. (This is one of those areas where Rawlinson's time running engineering at Jaguar and Lotus really comes through.)
