We successful returned to our home in Blaine, Washington this last Friday afternoon, after spending Thanksgiving week with our daughter, son-in-law and three grandkids at their home in Centennial, Colorado. This return trip greatly increased our knowledge of the Lucid Air GT’s capabilities and a few of its flaws (which I believe are very correctable with updates). From our drive out to Centennial (which I wrote about in great detail and presented earlier in this thread - you can read it by clicking
HERE) and this return trip, I am totally convinced that the Lucid is one, if not the, very best EV one can own.
I realize that every car is a result of compromises which the car company must make in producing it. It is impossible to offer a car that will please everyone. This is because we are all individuals with different needs, wants, and desires. In other words, what is great for me, may not be for you. Which is just fine. This is the reason there are so many different makes and models out there. Whatever car you buy is as close to being perfect for you.
With that said, the Lucid Air is the first car I have owned during my 72 years on this earth, where I have a remarkably luxurious and comfortable long trip vehicle (by driving in Smooth mode), one of the top, high-end, curve loving sports cars (Swift mode), and a heart pounding, white knuckle dragster (Sprint mode) all in just one vehicle. The car is simply amazing!
Our return trip home was basically a race between us in our Lucid Air and a monster snow storm that was approaching the Pacific Northwest. Compounded by a series of smaller snow storms sweeping the western states and the northern Rockies, we made the decision to take a much more southern route home to avoid being snowbound somewhere in Idaho or eastern Oregon for many days. This added almost 1,000 miles to our trip and yet, even by taking this longer route, we had the very real possibility of being trapped in the Siskiyou Mountains by this coming massive storm.
During this trip I collected a lot of detail data, which I share in the attached report of our trip. I offer it to those who are like me, learning about EVs and establishing a knowledge base regarding how the Lucid Air handles a multitude of driving conditions. We experienced mountains with more than 20% grades, freezing temperatures, slippery wet roads in pouring rain, headwinds with gusts greater than 40 mph, sand storms that would peel your skin off if exposed, daily trips of 600 miles and more, and an EA station where none of the chargers would work (and we just optimistically had only 45 miles of range left). Yet, even facing these experiences, I would not hesitate in hopping back into our Lucid and doing it all over again. The car is just the much fun to drive.
Anyway, below I have attached our report of the trip and the data I collected. I will be posting over the next few days my thoughts of Lucid’s Highway Assist. Let me just say I love it and it was the principal reason I was able to drive day after day close to greater than 600 miles a day being 72 years old and lacking the staminia I once had. With that said, I will also highlight a couple of real dangers one faces when using it. These dangers are correctable but will take an update to the software to do so.