Air vs i5 - New AT owner

[MapleMan]

Picked up my 2025 Lucid AT a couple weeks ago in Plainview NY. Blue/Stealth w/SSP and DDP. Been a long time BMW owner, still have 2012 535xi with 210k miles on it. Rides like a dream. Best car ever owned. Wanted an EV, compared the i5 to the Lucid. Did a lot of research, test drove both multiple times. Prices similar. Read all about the software growing pains on this and the FB forums. In the end, combination of range and wanting something a little different pushed me to the Lucid. Incentives were great, and 18 month lease sealed it.

I thought you would get a laugh from one of the reviews I read in Digital Trends for the i5 re: SW.

Should you buy the BMW i5?​

The BMW i5 is an excellent electric sedan — but there are others worth considering too. The Lucid Air is a better EV, with a much better range and better software, but I prefer the interior build-quality of the i5. There are cheaper electric sedans (even if there aren’t many), like the Ioniq 6 — but while gets pretty close to the i5 when it comes to EV stuff (and even beats it in things like charging speed), it doesn’t look as premium or feel as luxurious. In other words, the BMW i5 certainly isn’t for everyone — but if you want a luxury electric sedan with a bit of room on the inside, it’s absolutely worth considering.

 

[Daniel2022AT]

The Lucid Air is superior to all other EV’s on paper. Range. Interior room. Ease of use. It falls down for me on three points: 1. Noise. Most luxury EV’s are much quieter in terms of road noise, wind noise, and motor whine. 2. Interior materials. While far superior to the spartan minimalist approach of Tesla, Lucid falls behind the Europeans in terms of interior appointments. 3. Driving position. I feel like I’m sitting deep in a bathtub in the Lucid Air. Fine for a small sports car but not for a large vehicle. Real world visibility is poor.

I’m now driving an Audi Q8 etron Sportback. Much better in terms of the three topics listed above, but real world efficiency of 2.3 vs 3.9 mi/kwh makes it poor for road trips but delightful for all else.

 

[kort6776]

without getting technical and based on my one test drive in the I5 I chose the Air GT. the Air is just a far better all around package. one flaw of the I5 is that fake engine sound that can't be turned off. at the time the costs of leasing either car was about the same, to repeat I found the Air GT to be a far better choice.

 

[kort6776]

3. Driving position. I feel like I’m sitting deep in a bathtub in the Lucid Air. Fine for a small sports car but not for a large vehicle. Real world visibility is poor.

this is my only complaint about the air gt, I still have not found a perfect seating position. I like the steering wheel to be as low as possible but that position blocks the speedo read out so I have to raise the steering wheel. and the massive A pillars force you to be very cautious because they do block the views.

 

[VVS Wraith]

without getting technical and based on my one test drive in the I5 I chose the Air GT. the Air is just a far better all around package. one flaw of the I5 is that fake engine sound that can't be turned off. at the time the costs of leasing either car was about the same, to repeat I found the Air GT to be a far better choice.

I have an I5 and that can be turned off

 

[Justmurr]

Regarding the seat position, when I was first adjusting it, I was surprised at the height I needed in the AT, feels much higher than I remember ever setting the seat in previous cars, maybe it just allows you to sit lower than previous cars (shrug) but regardless, I was happy to find a great position for me (6ft) it’s so good.

 

[RMSko]

The Lucid Air is superior to all other EV’s on paper. Range. Interior room. Ease of use. It falls down for me on three points: 1. Noise. Most luxury EV’s are much quieter in terms of road noise, wind noise, and motor whine. 2. Interior materials. While far superior to the spartan minimalist approach of Tesla, Lucid falls behind the Europeans in terms of interior appointments. 3. Driving position. I feel like I’m sitting deep in a bathtub in the Lucid Air. Fine for a small sports car but not for a large vehicle. Real world visibility is poor.

I’m now driving an Audi Q8 etron Sportback. Much better in terms of the three topics listed above, but real world efficiency of 2.3 vs 3.9 mi/kwh makes it poor for road trips but delightful for all else.

Funny - I bought an Audi Q8 SB about 14 months ago and just sold it (and yes, I took a beating). While I thought the cabin was beautiful, the car itself was meh and the tech was horrible. I just got my Lucid a week ago and really love it. For me, on so many levels it is way better than the Audi.

 

[HC_79]

Funny - I bought an Audi Q8 SB about 14 months ago and just sold it (and yes, I took a beating). While I thought the cabin was beautiful, the car itself was meh and the tech was horrible. I just got my Lucid a week ago and really love it. For me, on so many levels it is way better than the Audi.

Agree that Audi is lacking the tech but they do have a nice interior. The Q6 e-Tron looks like the first to switch to Android Auto and finally allow OTA’s. Will be interesting how it plays out in the near future but YourTube, Netflix is available on it. Audi is definitely struggling from a platform / efficiency standpoint though. I think they’re on they’re 4th or 5th platform now.

That being said, Lucid definitely needs to up its software and ADAS game and fast.

 

[Steveinarizona]

1. Noise. Most luxury EV’s are much quieter in terms of road noise, wind noise, and motor whine. 2. Interior materials.

That might be the result of using performance summer tires. When i changed from fairly standard All Season tires to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires I had two significant impacts: (1) the car felt very much more planted to the road; and (2) The road noise was very much louder. Lucid is walking a fine line between offering a standard Mercedes like car and ride and offering a Porsche like riding experience.

I suspect the result would be different if the question were phrased as the noise level of performance EVs.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

this is my only complaint about the air gt, I still have not found a perfect seating position. I like the steering wheel to be as low as possible but that position blocks the speedo read out so I have to raise the steering wheel. and the massive A pillars force you to be very cautious because they do block the views.

I agree about the steering wheel. I have taken to setting it higher than in any other car I have owned…otherwise I cannot see when Drive Assist is enabled…