Lucid Air Wagon Is The Perfect Electric SUV Antidote

Joe

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Lucid will reveal its second model, an SUV, soon, but should it also create a load-lugging version of the Air sedan?
The Lucid Air electric sedan is set to debut today in its production form and there is a big chance the company will also show off a preview version of its second model, an SUV. And sure, that will please the market, which is leaning more towards SUVs than sedans as of late, yet the Lucid high-rider won’t be to everybody’s taste.
There will be those few car people who won’t be that thrilled with the idea of an SUV, wishing instead that Lucid would have made a wagon version of its Air instead. For those (few) wagon fans out there who are also into EVs, I decided to try to envision what an Air wagon would look like.

The result is this rendering which I think looks quite close to what Lucid would actually do if it actually created an Air with an estate body style. It’s nice to picture this vehicle, even though the likelihood of it becoming a production model is extremely low, even though since there are no luxury EV wagons on the market, it would be a niche Lucid would have all for itself.

Now am I alone in wanting this more than the sedan or the upcoming SUV, or am I just weird in my aversion towards high riding vehicles? Think about it - this wagon would offer the interior space and practicality of an SUV, but with the road holding and performance of the sedan; those are two wins in my book and would make for a very desirable electric wagon.

Source: https://insideevs.com/news/443181/l...medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-all-articles
 
Britons and Europeans still like their "estate cars" and "combis" (aka station wagons) much more than American buyers do. The relatively minor changes required to put this rendering on an Air platform could well make sense for those markets.
 
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Britons and Europeans still like their "estate cars" and "combis" (aka station wagons) much more than American buyers do. The relatively minor changes required to put this rendering on an Air platform could well make sense for those markets.
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Yes, wagon people are weird. 1998 V70R (black) 2006 V70R (sonic blue / atacama ) 2014E63s
 

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I had a 2003 Audi S6 station wagon. It was fast (for the era), quiet, comfortable, handled superbly, looked sharp, and carried pretty much anything I needed to haul. That car had no need to justify itself.
 
I had a 2003 Audi S6 station wagon. It was fast (for the era), quiet, comfortable, handled superbly, looked sharp, and carried pretty much anything I needed to haul. That car had no need to justify itself.
you get it
 
@Joe, I hadn’t seen this rendering before (late to the party apparently). Time to update my profile pic.
 
I ❤️ wagons. The V70 R is iconic, and I've always wanted a merc AMG wagon. Sold my WRX hatch many years ago, but the combination of speed and practicality was great, had so much fun with that car. Audi did decide to bring over the RS6 Avant to the US, perhaps we can hope against all hope that Lucid would choose to develop such a vehicle and sell it in the US. It is interesting to wonder if EV powertrains will enable new types of cars that combine performance and practicality in ways we've never seen before (ex. Aptera).

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Thunderhill!

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you can definitely take a bunch of friends on a ski trip after a big snowfall without an SUV!
 
I used to have a BMW E34 525iT that I dropped a turbocharged M3 engine into and daily drove for years. One of my favorite cars and I would love a Lucid wagon. It has most of the benefits of a SUV with the aero of a sedan.
 
I have spent the last 2 years doing the mental gymnastics that I can keep my 2018 E63S Wagon when my time comes to get the Lucid. We always had one practical car (SUV/Minivan) and one "fun" car. I have managed to convince myself that the wagon can serve as the "practical car" so I don't have to give it up when the Lucid comes. If they made this, I would definitely be at the front of the line, and may even be willing to let the AMG go (emphasis on the word may).
 
I had a 96 Volvo 850R wagon with the rear facing third row seats for the kids
It was a wonderful do everything vehicle, though it lacked AWD
The SUV craze toasted the wagon market which is sad because most buyers never get close to off road use
The high seating positions have become a must have
 
I ❤️ wagons. The V70 R is iconic…
I had a Volvo V70R (manual, silver exterior, blue leather interior). It was the “compromise” for a family van. We needed something to haul the dogs and kids around. But neither my wife nor I could stomach driving a van. However, the V70R made it easy climb behind the wheel of a wagon. It was a blast to drive.

Tho’ one huge frustration. Literally one week into owning it (new, not used), I was driving in passing lane in rush hour traffic on expressway with my son, and…car…just…stopped. No power, no nothing. Called 911. They asked what my emergency was. I said I don’t have one yet, but there’s a good chance I’m about to become one sitting at a dead stop in the passing lane in rush hour. A police cruiser was promptly sent out. He pulled up behind, full red-and-blues running and pushed me across the 3 lanes onto a very narrow breakdown lane. He picked up a decent amount of speed, which was disconcerting to me in the absence of power steering or power brakes. About an hour wait for tow truck. Volvo never gave me a completely clear explanation as to what exactly went wrong. But whatever parts they replaced, I never had the issue again. (Side bar: it was not a 12V battery issue…something else, I do recall that much.)
 
I had a 96 Volvo 850R wagon with the rear facing third row seats for the kids
It was a wonderful do everything vehicle, though it lacked AWD
The SUV craze toasted the wagon market which is sad because most buyers never get close to off road use
The high seating positions have become a must have
As we get older the high seating position helps with comfort and visibility. Wagons used to be the SUV of the 80’s and 90’s along with Vans.
 
My wife is European but sadly she is not on board with a wagon/hatchback. The Panamera helped shift that a little. I think I might could even get her onboard if Lucid were to make this beast - it's so obvious looking at the rendering.
 
I had two Subaru wagons when I was younger and two E class Mercedes’ wagons later in life that even sported a third row rear facing fold down seat. I loved those Mercs! I saw this out in the Hamptons a month ago for the ultimate shooting brake/ estate as the Brits call them
 

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Lucid went against trend starting with a sedan instead of an SUV. Why not do a wagon? That rendering looks fairly close to what an Air "Estate" might be in reality. And it's not bad looking at all.

I'm sure a wagon-style opening in the back would throw the rigidity off a bit. But the engineers at Lucid have tackled bigger problems already.
 
I have spent the last 2 years doing the mental gymnastics that I can keep my 2018 E63S Wagon when my time comes to get the Lucid. We always had one practical car (SUV/Minivan) and one "fun" car. I have managed to convince myself that the wagon can serve as the "practical car" so I don't have to give it up when the Lucid comes. If they made this, I would definitely be at the front of the line, and may even be willing to let the AMG go (emphasis on the word may).
This is exactly what I have been torturing myself over for yes, the last two years. Same same.

But...I'm gonna sell it. I got most of the way up the speedo and the car was so planted it scared me. This really is a supercar, that I used to haul lumber, appliances, and shrubberies, and take to mountains when it's storming hard. Is that Tahoe ? Love that place. First time at Heavenly we got there at 7:30 to get first chair (East coast skier). We were thrilled that we were the first car in the lot. ?? Oh. Not open 'til 9. Then going up the steep quad in front of the lodge, groomed out, we are checking the view and the snow and wow this is a big hill, and the locals looking for icy spots (they have no idea what an icy spot is), and as we near the peak, I see, we are not near the peak. We are on the bunny hill, the top of which dips a bit before the real mountain begins. Skip to the end of the day. I was at sea level yesterday, ski all day in outer space, legs lactated to spasms, we get to the saddle and there is a very long line for the quad chair ????
They are taking the chair DOWN? I have never seen this. I go around to the lip and see that the morning groomed slope is now full of Volkswagon beetles. I look back at the line, then back at the moguls. II'll just take it easy. About three turns in my legs won't have any more, but you can't stop because it is all Volkswagen all the way down, and I'm in the middle under the chair, and I have all those riders watching, waiting, and yes, I miss a turn, hit the backside at speed, launch (none of this is intentional, I'm good, but not Volkswagen good), everyone cheers in anticipation of disaster, I'm rolling down the windows, hit the backside of a mogul wayyyyy down the slope, and shed just about everything I'm wearing. It was epic. Huge applause. I love Tahoe. Never seen a description that comes close to the reality.
 
boy seems to anxiously waiting for something
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Jack, there is no road !
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half way to The Beast (Killington)
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Photo captions:
1. Boy wakes early and clears driveway, seems to be anxiously waiting for someone
2. Dad explains that there are no roads in SE PA at the moment.
3. The snow is quite dry, the Volvo has no problem busting out to the main road. Upstate NY
4. Where is the turbocharger on these things ?
5. Trip back was blazing fast. Nobody was on the interstates: too much snow to get to it.
6. Safe and sound.
7. A job well done.

Ski wagons are great, outfitted with REAL snow tires, a shovel, cheater chains, a strong son, and if you get in a bind, you sleep in the back. I love wagons.
 
Is that Tahoe ?
Yup! We went up to North Lake Tahoe for that trip I believe (wanna say Diamond Peak/Mount Rose?).

LOL @ your experience at Heavenly, seems like you had a good time and hopefully made it out of that one without too much more than a bruised ego!
 
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