Updated trip report:
We were met by Pashtar, the Lucid rep. He was super. I noticed that the white prototype I saw in March has been replaced with a production model in Quantum Grey. The gray color looks brighter than when I saw one on the road back home. We had a choice between a red Lucid with 19" wheels or a white one with 21" wheels. Since I ordered the Touring with 20" wheels, he said the white car would most closely approximate the ride experience. Both the 20" and 21" wheels are staggered, whereas the 19" wheels are all the same and can be swapped front to rear. Pashtar guided us through all the adjustments that can be made prior to putting the car into gear - pretty straightforward stuff. Nice that you can make a lot of adjustments on the screen or by using the buttons on the side of the seat, similar to many cars on the road today.
My daughter drove the car first while I sat in the back. The elevated floorboard in the rear doesn't feel bad at all, albeit my experience back there was about 20-25 minutes. It feels a lot like being in a limo. I got to relax into the seat back which felt very comfortable although I must admit that most of the time I was leaning forward as Pashtar explained all the features to my daughter. I'm 5'9" 165lbs, and I had at least a foot of leg space. The rear was cavernous by almost any standard; it felt great, and the elevated floorboard IMO is a non-issue.
My daughter only drove with the power setting on Smooth - but it was plenty. When she accelerated, I could feel my back snapping into the seatback cushion. It reminded me of the acceleration of my '68 Camaro 396SS back in the day but I'm sure this was much more powerful. We were driving north on Scottsdale Boulevard when she took a look in the rearview mirror, then proceeded to do a series of 6 "S" turns at around 50mph while remaining in the center lane. The car was like a stripe of paint; there was zero tire squeal. Pashtar did tell us that there have only been 2 traffic citations written during his experience in giving demo rides lol!
We then switched places, and Pashtar turned the mode setting to Swift. We took it on the highway where I made a series of spirited accelerations. The car was extremely responsive. Pashtar asked me if I wanted to try the Sprint mode (heck yeah), so I got to drive that as well. To be honest, I didn't see much of a difference between the three modes. If you nailed the pedal, it GOES in any mode! Maybe I would notice the difference in the GT Performance, but the power in the vehicle we drove was way more than plenty. I also drove the car using the aggressive setting in the one-pedal mode. It took almost no time getting used to it while driving, but it does take some getting used to when stopping or slowing down (gauging the distance in front). Unlike ICE vehicles, there is no "creep" once you stop. I said I bet these brakes could last 100K miles. Pashtar said double that number and I would be in the ballpark.
Tried as hard as I could, I could never manage to break the tires loose, even accelerating during a tight right-hand turn.
Impressions:
In a word, unbelievable. The technology was awesome but not intimidating. It felt "right." A/C felt comfortable. It was a 90+ degree day but the car was in a parking structure so it wasn't exposed to the sun before we got into the car. Unbelievably quiet compared to the Tesla P90D that I drove a couple of years ago. My daughter said it wasn't like anything she tested at Daimler-Chrysler. I told her friend (Lucid engineer) 2 years ago that I wished they made a car with Tesla's performance and Mercedes quiet and comfort. I think Lucid nailed it.
