Elon Musk may believe Lucid Motors is on the edge of bankruptcy, but its latest tri-motor version of its Air car proves otherwise in terms of performance.
In a recent video, Hagerty pitted the Lucid Air Sapphire against the Tesla Model S Plaid and Bugatti Chiron in a drag race. Sapphire also went head-to-head with a Ducati motorcycle.
As seen in the video, the two EVs begin the race side by side, and the Lucid does not start to create a lead until the cars have gained some speed. However, both are still far faster to sprint than the Bugatti, which launches incredibly aggressively but cannot put the power down with the other two cars’ more remarkable ability to regulate traction.
The Lucid Air Sapphire was predictably faster than the other two vehicles, but they also chose to examine how a 210-bhp Ducati Panigale V4 SP2 fared. It was a close race between these two vehicles, but the Lucid came out on top.
The Lucid Air Sapphire has 1,200 horsepower, nearly 200 horsepower more than the Tesla Model S Plaid, allowing its makers to call the new tri-motor EV “the most powerful sedan in the world.”
While both the Lucid Air Sapphire and the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport hit high speeds of 156 mph, the former topped the latter and the Tesla Model S Plaid by 0.2 seconds. Plaid’s highest speed was only 152 mph, but it was fast enough to compete with the Bugatti. Nonetheless, none could compete with the Air Sapphire.
The closest opponent was the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2, which had a higher top speed (157 mph) than the Air Sapphire but couldn’t match the tri-motor EV’s acceleration. With a quarter mile time of 9.3 seconds, it joined the Model S Plaid and Chiron.
So, the Lucid Air Sapphire has shown to be superior to the Tesla Model S Plaid, but it still has to overcome the Rimac Nevera to claim the title of the fastest car in the world.
Meanwhile, you can witness the Lucid Air Sapphire tear down the track in the video below:
