Lucid Air History

The Lucid Air was unveiled as a prototype in December 2016 and entered series production at Lucid's AMP-1 factory in Casa Grande, Arizona in September 2021 — the first production vehicle from the former Atieva battery-and-powertrain startup. The limited Dream Edition (520 units) reached customers that same month as MY2021 vehicles, positioning the Air directly against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Tesla Model S. Peter Rawlinson, formerly chief engineer of the Tesla Model S, led the program as Lucid's CEO.

The Air's standout achievement was efficiency: the Dream Edition Range earned an EPA rating of up to 520 miles on a single charge, the longest EPA-certified range of any production EV at the time, while the Dream Edition Performance made 1,111 hp. For MY2022 the mainstream lineup added the Pure (480 hp, ~410 miles), the Touring (620 hp AWD, up to 516 miles), and the Grand Touring (800 hp, ~516 miles) — all built around Lucid's compact, proprietary high-voltage motor and power-electronics technology.

Lucid expanded the Air lineup further with the Air Sapphire, which debuted its production specifications in August 2023 and began customer deliveries in September 2023 (as a MY2024 vehicle). The tri-motor Sapphire produces 1,234 hp, covers 0–60 mph in 1.89 seconds, and runs the quarter-mile in 8.95 seconds at 158 mph, while still returning an EPA-estimated 427 miles of range — making it, in Lucid's words, the world's first luxury electric super-sports sedan. Starting price was $249,000.