We have an EV9 and also briefly cross shopped it with the Pure (we were focused on the Touring). Here's a list of what we found better about each car (I am mostly only including things we cared about, although I will address you with some):
Air:
Driving dynamics (obviously, my parents' opinion): Being a family car, we do not care about this, nevertheless the Lucid is better. Keep in mind that the Lucid is a sedan.
Looks: Even though the EV9 looks great to me, it is not even on the same level as the Lucid's sleek modernism. The EV9 feels like it is trying too hard to be futuristic.
Sound system: Interestingly, both manufacturers take similar approaches to their sound system (this is the Meridian one, included with our fully loaded Land), with clean mids and smooth, but not overpowering bass. However, the Lucid is just
better in all ways; the mids are clearer AND the bass is better.
Frunk packaging: The Lucid has a much bigger frunk than the EV9 despite being much smaller in terms of the hood. It also has a deeper "sub-cargo" area. I will not be giving it points (or dinging it) on packaging regarding legroom, because they are almost incomparable. The Lucid has fantastic legroom being what it is.
Ride quality/NVH: This is not even a comparison. The EV9 is significantly louder (despite being already very quiet) and rides worse. I find it a touch too stiff, although body control is handled exceptionally well (considering it is a huge 3 row SUV).
Range (but maybe not efficiency?
): The Lucid would handily beat our EV9 range-wise. However, our EV9 is consistently outperforming EPA estimates, getting 4.0 mi/kwh with city driving and 3.3 going 75 MPH. I am not sure if the Lucid would be much better, nevertheless I am adding it to the list of benefits.
Areas where they are close (or where I was undecided):
Reliability: Within the first month of ownership, our EV9 shit itself and had to be bought to the dealer for the 12v to be fixed. The fact that this is an ongoing issue with HMG cars to this date worries me, even though there have been no further issues with the car. However, it seems as if the Lucid does also have some glitches. Not owning the Lucid, I am not making a judgement here.
Interior "ambiance": Were this a comparison between the Touring and the EV9, I would easily give it to the Touring. Those interior fabrics, wood, and the glass roof all combine to give it an unmatched feel without making it seem like a strip club (cough cough EQS). As I've said before, the Pure is lacking in this area, or at least it was. I have never seen a metal-roofed Santa Cruz Pure, so I will refrain from making judgements. I imagine it would be significantly better, although I hope they someday allow the glass roof/Pure combo.
Material quality: Again, were this a comparison between the Touring and the EV9, it would have won. The fake leather in the EV9 feels like trash compared to the Bridge of Weir cuts in the Lucid, and the sophisticated fabrics/wood in the Lucid easily beats the horrible fake wood sticker in the EV9 (probably one of the worst aspects of the car, to me). However, the Pure substitutes this for PurLuxe and a somewhat rough feeling fabric replacing the "full grain" leather on the Touring. I'd say some people would prefer different approaches, and I too was undecided. Therefore, this lies in this category.
EV9:
Price: Say what you want, but even a fully loaded EV9 is much cheaper than an Air (and as you will soon see, represents better value
for us). This was by FAR the most important factor to us, given that my parents have two kids that need to go to college soon! We got our Land for 69k fully loaded, while the Pure STARTED at 77k, and a Touring in our spec was ~98k. 30k is a massive difference!
Interior features: Sorry, but to us the Pure is severely lacking here. At the time we were ordering, you could only have heated front/rear seats, with no ventilation on offer. There is also no glass roof, which coupled with a black interior, made the interior "feel"... lacking. I still maintain that the Pure interior is too barren, although they have made great strides by offering the Santa Cruz interior along with ventilated seats for the front. For this reason coupled with the "ambiance" mentioned previously, we were only considering the
Touring (which still only has heated seats in the rear).
By comparison, the EV9 has heated/ventilated seats with electrically controlled recliners for the first AND second row (fantastic for sleeping along with the winged headrests, BTW). The second row was a huge factor in our car buying (again, for obvious reasons), and given the lack of features in the Air, even in the higher trims, this was a major ding on it. We hope Lucid addresses this in the Gravity.
Also, it had Android Auto!
Second row legroom: The theme of this car being better in the second row continues here. There is far more legroom and "under-seat" room in the EV9. Both the Pure and Touring have no "under-seat" room, which makes my feet feel "claustrophobic," if that makes sense. HOWEVER, the Lucid is simply amazing for what it is. It is just that being an SUV, the EV9 is better.
....
Were you waiting for more? Yes, those three were the ONLY reason we got the EV9 over the Air. Both cars were above our needs in other areas, such as driving dynamics, sound system, material quality (hey, our previous car was a Kia Sorento!), cargo, etc. However, when it came to what mattered
FOR US, the EV9 had a clear cut advantage. It also had the benefit of having a third row, no matter how useless it is. We valued these three improvements more than everything else the Air has. If I had to weigh each reason in terms of how it contributed to us getting an EV9, it would go like this:
40 percent price
30 percent interior features (coupled with the value the cheaper EV9 gives you in this area)
15 percent second row legroom
15 percent "brand stability" (My parents have some worry over Lucid getting bankrupt, which I don't understand. Although I tried convincing them with various figures, they still have this fear. I didn't include it in this comparison because I think it is unfair to Lucid.)
When you look at how the Lucid is so much better/equal in pretty much every other area, it is clear why we are now shifting focus to the Gravity (which has the chance of equaling/beating the EV9 in everything except price). If the Gravity is under 85k and offers the features/legroom of the EV9, we are in. As always, there will be no perfect car for everybody. In our case, the EV9 was the best option. In your case, the Air might be the best option. Look at what matters for you, and then pick wisely. Hope this helped!
(PS: There are many other points of contention between the two that I left out here. Excluding driving dynamics, which I included because you mentioned it, I only included things we thought had a bit of importance. I also probably forgot a LOT of extremely important things and will be DMing
@borski to edit this post later, if needed. Feel free to request a comparison with anything else!)
