Elon Musk may think Lucid Motors could be on the verge of death as a company, but its latest tri-motor version of its Air sedan sure says otherwise from a speed standpoint. In a recent video you can view below, the team at Hagerty put the Lucid Air Sapphire up against the Tesla Model S Plaid and Bugatti Chiron in a drag race. As if that wasn’t enough, Sapphire took on a Ducati motorcycle head to head as well.
After months of rumors about Lucid Motors developing a tri-motor version of its Air sedan, the American EV automaker officially debuted it during Monterey Car Week this past summer, kicking off a new Sapphire performance brand that should continue with its second EV model, the Gravity SUV.
The Lucid Air Sapphire delivers 1,200 horsepower – nearly 200 hp more than the Tesla Model S Plaid for comparison, empowering its makers to hail the new tri-motor EV as “the most powerful sedan in the world.” Here are some additional specs.
- 0-60 mph in under 2 seconds (from a standstill)
- 0-100 mph in under 4 seconds
- Quarter mile in under 9 seconds
- Top speed over 200 mph
Lucid has promised us our own spin with the Air Sapphire in 2023, but the team at Hagerty appears to already have gotten its hands on a prototype that is identical to the version that will go into production. Naturally, they put the Lucid Air Sapphire head to head with the Tesla Model S Plaid (who wouldn’t), but took it a step further by adding two additional ponies to the race.
Here’s how it went.
Watch Lucid Air Sapphire smoke a Tesla Model S Plaid below
While the Lucid Air Sapphire didn’t quite hit the sub-9 second quarter mile as advertised above, it came damn close and on regular asphalt nonetheless. Regardless, it was more than enough speed to dominate both the Tesla Model S Plaid and the Bugatti Chiron.
While the Lucid Air Sapphire and Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport both reached top speeds of of 156 mph, the former still beat out the latter and the Tesla Model S Plaid by 0.2 seconds. Plaid only reached 152 mph top speed, but still held its own against the Bugatti. Still, none could match the Air Sapphire.
The closest competitor was the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2, which actually reached a top speed higher than the Air Sapphire (157 mph), but was still no match for the tri-motor EV’s acceleration. It, too, joined the Model S Plaid and Chiron with a quarter mile time of 9.3 seconds.
Yes, the Lucid Air Sapphire has proven its speediness over the Tesla Model S Plaid, but it still has one foe to race before it can truly be named the fastest on the planet – the Rimac Nevera. That could prove a bit more difficult to win, but perhaps we can get both on the track in 2023 and decide once and for all. In the meantime, you can watch the Lucid Air Sapphire tear down the track in the video below.